Letter from Hugh McCann, for John J. Hearne, to Frederick H. Boland (Dublin)
(345/96)

I have the honour to refer to your minute (reference No. 345/96) of 25th February, 1950,¹ and 25 April 1950,² regarding the adoption of Irish children by foreigners.

The Embassy has received a number of enquiries during recent months from persons residing in the United States wishing to adopt Irish children and similar enquiries have been received by the various welfare agencies both in the United States and in Ireland. On 3rd April, 1950, we received a letter from the Society of St. Vincent de Paul, Council of Ireland, enclosing copies of correspondence which passed between them and the National Conference of Catholic Charities. Copies of this correspondence are enclosed herewith.³

Informal enquiries at the Department of Justice and the District Court of the United States for the District of Columbia led to the suggestion that the appropriate Authorities with whom to discuss the implementation of the measures referred to in the minute dated 12 Nollaig, 1949, from the Department of Health⁴ would be the qualified welfare agencies in this country. These agencies are extra-Governmental organisations and are grouped under the Board of Public Welfare. From informal enquiries at the Board it was learned that they carry out investigations as to the character and general suitability of persons in this country adopting American children and that they have also carried out similar investigations in connection with the adoption of children from occupied countries, such as Germany and Austria. Hitherto they had not been asked to perform such services in the case of adoptions from other countries but they indicated that they might be prepared to do so subject to the approval of the Department of State.

In the case of Catholic children the National Conference of Catholic Charities is concerned with the investigation of the existing situation. Father Robert Brown,⁵ Assistant Secretary, stated that a meeting had been held in Chicago during April representative of Catholic interests from all over the country and that another meeting began in Washington on 18th May. A specific item on the Agenda for this meeting is the question of the adoption of Irish children since according to Father Brown Ireland and Italy are the two countries chiefly concerned. He stated that the French Government will not allow any children to be adopted abroad; that Belgium was very strict in the matter and that the Netherlands was somewhat less strict. Another item on the Agenda concerns the possibility of arranging foreign adoptions under the Displaced Persons Act which provides for the admission of 20,000 people. Under the present situation adopted children must come within the immigration quotas of the countries concerned. Father Brown also stated that adoption laws in the United States differ from state to state and that part of the difficulty from the religious point of view in making investigations through the qualified agencies is that while the Agencies usually have power to enquire into the religious background, in practice they often tend to disregard this aspect. He supplied us with a directory of diocesan agencies of Catholic Charities in the United States and Canada which could be used to supplement other investigations where necessary. The Irish orphanages could if they so wished require clearance from these agencies or the local pastor of persons proposing to adopt children under the care of the orphanages.

On the basis of the foregoing information Mr. Holmes⁶ of the Embassy availed himself of the opportunity of a recent luncheon meeting with Mr. Garner Ranney of the Department of State to mention the matter informally. Mr. Ranney promised to look into the matter with a view to indicating the likely attitude of the State Department.

Hitherto the practice of the Embassy in dealing with applications for the adoption of Irish children has been to state that there is at present no Irish legislation with which it is necessary to comply and that the permission of the United States Immigration authorities is all that is required. Applicants are referred, if they are Catholics, either to the National Conference of Catholic Charities or to the appropriate Catholic orphanages and organisations in Ireland. It appears from the attached correspondence that such adoptions in Dublin have been closed down by the Archbishop pending a full investigation in the matter. Where applicants do not specify religion the following addresses are also supplied: The Protestant Orphan Society, 28 Molesworth Street, Dublin, and The Presbyterian Association, 16 St. Stephen's Green, Dublin.

I enclose a clipping from the Norfolk Virginian-Pilot of April 21st which states that 'many Americans passing through Ireland during the Holy Year will take Irish children home with them'. This statement is attributed to a Dublin report.

We shall keep the Department informed of any further developments, meanwhile we should be glad to know what line the Department would wish the Embassy to follow in dealing with any future adoption cases which are received.