Mamie Cadden
Encyclopedia
Mary Anne "Mamie" Cadden (27 October 1891 in Scranton, Pennsylvania
, USA – 20 April 1959 in Dublin, Ireland
) was an Irish midwife, backstreet abortionist and convicted murder
er.
, the eldest of seven children, five of whom survived infancy. The family returned to Ireland in 1895 after Mamie's father inherited his father's farm. In 1925, she moved to Dublin to train as a midwife at the National Maternity Hospital, Holles Street. In 1931 she purchased a property in Rathmines
and ran it as her own maternity nursing home. This was a common practice among midwives at the time, the profession then being one that operated independently of nursing and medicine.
, Mamie Cadden also passed on unwanted babies — at a fee — to an informal fostering service, which placed them with families who received payment for caring for the child. She also provided abortions — both medical
(using preparations such as ergot
) and surgical (by injecting a solution
) — although the procedure is illegal in Ireland, and she was a well-known and colourful figure in the Dublin of the time. "Nurse Cadden's" activities were an open secret, and in the strongly Roman Catholic Irish Free State
of the time, where all forms of contraception
and abortion were forbidden, many women wanted to use Cadden's and others' services. Her nursing home in Rathmines came to an end in 1939 when she was sentenced to a year's hard labour in Mountjoy Prison
for abandoning a new-born baby on the side of the road in County Meath
, and she had to sell the property to pay her legal fees.
Once out of prison, she set up business again on modest rented premises, no longer delivering babies (as she had been struck off as a midwife), but continuing to provide abortions and miscellaneous medical treatments such as cures for constipation
and dandruff
. She fell foul of the law again in 1945, when a pregnant girl who needed hospitalisation after a failed abortion claimed that Cadden had inserted the laminaria tents
which were found in her cervix
. Cadden denied this and was tried under the Offences against the Person Act 1861
, convicted of procuring an abortion and sentenced once again to penal servitude in Mountjoy Prison, this time for five years.
She served her full term and once again set up her business on her release, this time in Hume Street, near Dublin's fashionable St Stephen's Green. Although she was operating out of a tiny, dingy one-roomed flat, she was able to continue her illegal business, and was still well-known enough in Dublin not to need to advertise. Even the death of one of her patients from an air embolism
in the heart in 1951, whose body Cadden left outside on the street, did not put an end to her activities as there was not sufficient evidence to connect her to the death. Five years later, however, she was not so lucky. Again one of her patients, Helen O'Reilly, died of an air embolism during a procedure to abort a pregnancy in the fifth month. When her body was found on the pavement in Hume Street, Cadden was arrested and tried for murder. She was sentenced to death
by hanging
in 1956, but this was commuted to life imprisonment after public appeals for clemency and due to the unintentional nature of Helen O'Reilly's death.
Cadden started serving her term in Mountjoy Prison, but was declared insane and moved to the Criminal Lunatic asylum in Dundrum, Dublin
, where she died of a heart attack in 1959.
television documentaries, one in the series entitled Thou Shalt not Kill, which examined and dramatised famous Irish murder cases under the title "The body in Hume Street", and on Monday 18 November 2007, an episode of the RTÉ
television documentary series Scannal featured the case under the title "Scannal! Nurse Mamie Cadden".
Scranton, Pennsylvania
Scranton is a city in the northeastern part of Pennsylvania, United States. It is the county seat of Lackawanna County and the largest principal city in the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre metropolitan area. Scranton had a population of 76,089 in 2010, according to the U.S...
, USA – 20 April 1959 in Dublin, Ireland
Republic of Ireland
Ireland , described as the Republic of Ireland , is a sovereign state in Europe occupying approximately five-sixths of the island of the same name. Its capital is Dublin. Ireland, which had a population of 4.58 million in 2011, is a constitutional republic governed as a parliamentary democracy,...
) was an Irish midwife, backstreet abortionist and convicted murder
Murder
Murder is the unlawful killing, with malice aforethought, of another human being, and generally this state of mind distinguishes murder from other forms of unlawful homicide...
er.
Background
Cadden was born in America to Irish parents from County MayoCounty Mayo
County Mayo is a county in Ireland. It is located in the West Region and is also part of the province of Connacht. It is named after the village of Mayo, which is now generally known as Mayo Abbey. Mayo County Council is the local authority for the county. The population of the county is 130,552...
, the eldest of seven children, five of whom survived infancy. The family returned to Ireland in 1895 after Mamie's father inherited his father's farm. In 1925, she moved to Dublin to train as a midwife at the National Maternity Hospital, Holles Street. In 1931 she purchased a property in Rathmines
Rathmines
Rathmines is a suburb on the southside of Dublin, about 3 kilometres south of the city centre. It effectively begins at the south side of the Grand Canal and stretches along the Rathmines Road as far as Rathgar to the south, Ranelagh to the east and Harold's Cross to the west.Rathmines has...
and ran it as her own maternity nursing home. This was a common practice among midwives at the time, the profession then being one that operated independently of nursing and medicine.
Work as midwife
As well as delivering babies, where necessary with the attendance of a doctorPhysician
A physician is a health care provider who practices the profession of medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring human health through the study, diagnosis, and treatment of disease, injury and other physical and mental impairments...
, Mamie Cadden also passed on unwanted babies — at a fee — to an informal fostering service, which placed them with families who received payment for caring for the child. She also provided abortions — both medical
Medical abortion
A medical abortion is a type of non-surgical abortion in which abortifacient pharmaceutical drugs are used to induce abortion. An oral preparation for medical abortion is commonly referred to as an abortion pill....
(using preparations such as ergot
Ergot
Ergot or ergot fungi refers to a group of fungi of the genus Claviceps. The most prominent member of this group is Claviceps purpurea. This fungus grows on rye and related plants, and produces alkaloids that can cause ergotism in humans and other mammals who consume grains contaminated with its...
) and surgical (by injecting a solution
Instillation abortion
Instillation abortion is a rarely used method of induced abortion, performed in the second trimester, by injecting a solution into the uterus to cause uterine contractions.-Procedure:...
) — although the procedure is illegal in Ireland, and she was a well-known and colourful figure in the Dublin of the time. "Nurse Cadden's" activities were an open secret, and in the strongly Roman Catholic Irish Free State
Irish Free State
The Irish Free State was the state established as a Dominion on 6 December 1922 under the Anglo-Irish Treaty, signed by the British government and Irish representatives exactly twelve months beforehand...
of the time, where all forms of contraception
Contraception
Contraception is the prevention of the fusion of gametes during or after sexual activity. The term contraception is a contraction of contra, which means against, and the word conception, meaning fertilization...
and abortion were forbidden, many women wanted to use Cadden's and others' services. Her nursing home in Rathmines came to an end in 1939 when she was sentenced to a year's hard labour in Mountjoy Prison
Mountjoy Prison
Mountjoy Prison , founded as Mountjoy Gaol, nicknamed The Joy, is a medium security prison located in Phibsboro in the centre of Dublin, Ireland. It has the largest prison population in Ireland.The current prison governor is Mr...
for abandoning a new-born baby on the side of the road in County Meath
County Meath
County Meath is a county in Ireland. It is part of the Mid-East Region and is also located in the province of Leinster. It is named after the ancient Kingdom of Mide . Meath County Council is the local authority for the county...
, and she had to sell the property to pay her legal fees.
Once out of prison, she set up business again on modest rented premises, no longer delivering babies (as she had been struck off as a midwife), but continuing to provide abortions and miscellaneous medical treatments such as cures for constipation
Constipation
Constipation refers to bowel movements that are infrequent or hard to pass. Constipation is a common cause of painful defecation...
and dandruff
Dandruff
Dandruff is the shedding of dead skin cells from the scalp . Dandruff is sometimes caused by frequent exposure to extreme heat and cold. As it is normal for skin cells to die and flake off, a small amount of flaking is normal and common; about 487,000 cells/cm2 get released normally after...
. She fell foul of the law again in 1945, when a pregnant girl who needed hospitalisation after a failed abortion claimed that Cadden had inserted the laminaria tents
Laminaria stick
A laminaria stick or tent is a thin rod of dried laminaria, a kelp species. Laminaria sticks are used in obstetrics to slowly dilate the cervix to induce labor and delivery or for surgical procedures including abortions. The rods are inserted into the cervix, and over the course of several hours,...
which were found in her cervix
Cervix
The cervix is the lower, narrow portion of the uterus where it joins with the top end of the vagina. It is cylindrical or conical in shape and protrudes through the upper anterior vaginal wall...
. Cadden denied this and was tried under the Offences against the Person Act 1861
Offences Against The Person Act 1861
The Offences against the Person Act 1861 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. It consolidated provisions related to offences against the person from a number of earlier statutes into a single Act...
, convicted of procuring an abortion and sentenced once again to penal servitude in Mountjoy Prison, this time for five years.
She served her full term and once again set up her business on her release, this time in Hume Street, near Dublin's fashionable St Stephen's Green. Although she was operating out of a tiny, dingy one-roomed flat, she was able to continue her illegal business, and was still well-known enough in Dublin not to need to advertise. Even the death of one of her patients from an air embolism
Air embolism
An air embolism, or more generally gas embolism, is a pathological condition caused by gas bubbles in a vascular system. The most common context is a human body, in which case it refers to gas bubbles in the bloodstream...
in the heart in 1951, whose body Cadden left outside on the street, did not put an end to her activities as there was not sufficient evidence to connect her to the death. Five years later, however, she was not so lucky. Again one of her patients, Helen O'Reilly, died of an air embolism during a procedure to abort a pregnancy in the fifth month. When her body was found on the pavement in Hume Street, Cadden was arrested and tried for murder. She was sentenced to death
Capital punishment
Capital punishment, the death penalty, or execution is the sentence of death upon a person by the state as a punishment for an offence. Crimes that can result in a death penalty are known as capital crimes or capital offences. The term capital originates from the Latin capitalis, literally...
by hanging
Hanging
Hanging is the lethal suspension of a person by a ligature. The Oxford English Dictionary states that hanging in this sense is "specifically to put to death by suspension by the neck", though it formerly also referred to crucifixion and death by impalement in which the body would remain...
in 1956, but this was commuted to life imprisonment after public appeals for clemency and due to the unintentional nature of Helen O'Reilly's death.
Cadden started serving her term in Mountjoy Prison, but was declared insane and moved to the Criminal Lunatic asylum in Dundrum, Dublin
Dundrum, Dublin
Dundrum , originally a town in its own right, is now a suburb of Dublin in Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown, Ireland.The area is located in the postal districts of Dublin 14 and Dublin 16.-History:...
, where she died of a heart attack in 1959.
Cultural resonance
Cadden and her case remain well-known in Irish criminal history, and her controversial activities are the stuff of Dublin legend. In 1994, she was the subject of two episodes of RTÉRTE
RTÉ is the abbreviation for Raidió Teilifís Éireann, the public broadcasting service of the Republic of Ireland.RTE may also refer to:* Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, 25th Prime Minister of Turkey...
television documentaries, one in the series entitled Thou Shalt not Kill, which examined and dramatised famous Irish murder cases under the title "The body in Hume Street", and on Monday 18 November 2007, an episode of the RTÉ
RTE
RTÉ is the abbreviation for Raidió Teilifís Éireann, the public broadcasting service of the Republic of Ireland.RTE may also refer to:* Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, 25th Prime Minister of Turkey...
television documentary series Scannal featured the case under the title "Scannal! Nurse Mamie Cadden".