Letter from Seán Ronan to Donal Scully¹ (New York)

Dear Donal,
I duly received your letter of the 26th April² in connection with the 'export' of Irish orphans to America for adoption there and am not surprised to learn that St. Patrick's Home, Cabra, has been notified to cease all adoptions to America, as the question was very much a live issue when the matter of an Adoption Bill was being discussed here a short while ago and, furthermore, at the time there was considerable newspaper comment on the number of children which were going to the U.S. for adoption. I regret that we have no information officially regarding any decisions or directions given to orphanages etc. by the ecclesiastical authorities here. We suspect that the ecclesiastical authorities in each diocese have jurisdiction to decide any adoption matters affecting their own diocese. We also suspect that His Grace the Archbishop of Dublin has instructed all Catholic institutions in the Archdiocese of Dublin to close down on any more foreign adoptive cases pending a full investigation of the matter. There is a feeling too that a similar instruction was given by His Grace the Bishop of Meath to Catholic institutions in his jurisdiction. Of course we have no definite information about these moves and we are not aware whether the Archbishop or any other Bishops have yet arrived at any policy. Should I be able to ascertain any more definite information I shall let you know in due course.

You are aware, no doubt, that this Department enters into the matter only in so far as it is necessary to give Irish passports to the children concerned. Before issuing passports in these cases the Department now satisfies itself that the parents' or guardian's consent is obtained and that satisfactory evidence of the foster parents' suitability is produced. It is not part of our function to assist foreigners to remove children from this country for the purpose of adopting them, and indeed we would be open to criticism if we were to attempt to do so. We are reluctant to go outside the procedure mentioned above.

We had quite a pleasant Transatlantic trip home. I have bought a house out in Mount Merrion since returning and hope to move in shortly. Our best regards to Eileen and all at the Consulate.