Cruel story of Julia told in new book by her great great granddaughter
The harrowing story of how a young mother was incarcerated in St Loman’s Hospital, Mullingar, from the age of 32 and how her five children, one of whom was born in the hospital, were sent to the workhouse, is vividly depicted in a new book by Kathy Crinion, great great granddaughter of the woman, Julia Caffrey Leonard.
‘Her Name was Julia: Grave number 339’ was launched in Trim last Friday evening and among those in attendance was Julia’s 94-year-old granddaughter Margaret Clarke from Longford, daughter of the son who was born to Julia during her incarceration. Margaret’s daughter Julia, along with Kathy Crinion and Niall Brennan, better known as Bressie, have been to the fore in a campaign to restore the St Loman’s graveyard where Julia is buried, in grave 339.
Kathy paid tribute to the part Bressie played in the campaign. “His commitment has been great at causing a stir as he has celebrity clout and that has helped greatly,” she said. She added that the group are still working on restoring the graveyard and revealed that they had been filmed recently by RTÉ for an upcoming documentary.
The author admitted that writing the book had been joyful and painful. She said Julia’s story is like that of many who were silenced because of the shame and stigma attached to mental illness and suggested that echoes of that shame are still evident today. “I hope my book helps change that narrative,” she said.
Kathy thanked her “super sleuth” mother Sheila Shanley for her dedicated and tireless research work, without which the book would not exist, she said. She also thanked the many individuals who shared their memories and stories with her.
In 1897, a 32-year-old mother to five young children was committed to the St Loman’s mental asylum. With her fate sealed behind stone walls, her children were cast into the bleak world of the workhouse. The cruelty of those choices belonged to her husband alone. But that was just the beginning.
In a foreword, Bressie writes: Stranger than fiction and shrouded in mystery, this true account lays bare the hidden truths of a society governed by stigma, secrecy, and institutional control.
At its heart is one woman, whose life was irreversibly shaped by choices she did not make and consequences she could not escape. Set against the backdrop of a rapidly changing Ireland, this book is both a tribute to the strength and resilience of those history tried to forget, and a bold challenge to a world that silenced all who dared to be different. Poignant and deeply human, it speaks for the silenced and brings long-overdue dignity to lives once hidden in the shadows.
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