Please note that this site is private and currently not open to the public.

In 1934, the Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and Mary purchased the former Pollard Manor House and estate. They established a hospital and church, including a chapel containing a stained-glass window designed by renowned Irish artist Harry Clarke, and operated a mother and child institution there. The home formed part of a wider system in Ireland in which unmarried pregnant women were sent to institutions operated by religious orders. Many arrived from outside the local area, including women who travelled from Dublin.

The institution placed a strong emphasis on privacy and separation from the surrounding community. Women were often given different first names, correspondence was handled in ways intended to conceal their whereabouts, and contact with the outside world was tightly controlled.

The complex was largely self-sufficient, with a farm and walled garden producing food, while residents worked in areas including the kitchen, laundry and farm. Babies were cared for in a nursery until they were adopted or fostered. During the period before legal adoption was established in Ireland, many children were adopted overseas, particularly by families in the United States.

As attitudes and social conditions changed, the need for such institutions declined. In 1971, the building was taken over by the Midland Health Board.

Today, this difficult chapter is an important part of Castlepollard’s history – one that deserves to be remembered honestly and respectfully.