Dublin by Lamplight explained

Dublin by Lamplight or the Lamplight Laundry, at 35 Ballsbridge Terrace, Ballsbridge, Dublin, was a Protestant-run Magdalene Laundry, founded in 1856, that like other such laundries housed so-called "fallen women".^{[1] [2]} It was administered by a committee of Anglican women, a matron, and a chaplain who was a Church of Ireland priest. The motto of the asylum was "That they may recover themselves out of the snares of the devil" (II Timothy 2:24).^[3]

A chaplain and secretary to the laundry, Rev. Dr. James S. Fletcher DD (parish priest of Brookfield, Milltown Co. Dublin), wrote a paper titled Our Female Penitentiaries can be made self-supporting!, which was discussed at the International Prison Congress.^[4]

The site of the institution has been redeveloped. There is a campaign to have the location commemorated with a plaque.^[5]

Popular media

It was mentioned in James Joyce's short story Clay in Dubliners.^[6]

References

1. Book: Oram, Hugh . The Little Book of Ballsbridge . 2014 . The History Press . Dublin . 9780750958295 . 68 . registration .
2. Eide . Marian . James Joyce's Magdalenes . College Literature . 2011 . 38 . 4 . 57–75 . The Johns Hopkins University Press . 10.1353/lit.2011.0043 . 41302888 . 220827432 .
3. Book: Gifford, Don . Joyce Annotated: Notes for Dubliners and A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man . 1982 . University of California Press . Berkeley, California, USA . 9780520046108 . registration .
4. https://books.google.com/books?id=KZsFAQAAIAAJ Circular[s] of Information
5. News: The City Should Mark the Sites of All Long-Gone Magdalene Laundries, Some Councillors Say. Whelan. Zuzia. Dublin Inquirer. 28 November 2018. 30 December 2021.
6. Book: Joyce, James . Norris . Margot . Dubliners . 2006 . . New York, London . 978-0-393-97851-3 . 82, footnote 1 . registration .