Frank Berry’s new film The Lost Children of Tuam tells the story of how local woman and amateur historian Catherine Corless uncovered the dark truth about her hometown’s mother and baby home and exposed one of the greatest scandals in the history of the Irish Catholic Church.
She is played by Laurence Olivier Award-winning English actress Monica Dolan. Her extensive theatrical film, TV and stage work includes Appropriate Adult, King Lear, All About Eve, and This Time Next Year and she can be next seen in Elsinore opposite Andrew Scott and Olivia Colman.
Produced by Liam Neeson and based on Dan Barry’s 2017 New York Times article, The Lost Children of Tuam reveals how Ireland’s benignly-named mother and baby homes were often crucibles of fear, abuse and shame.
Playing a real life person presents its own challenges. You spent a lot of time with Catherine Corless in Tuam and I believe a walk in her garden was key to unlocking your portrayal of her . . .
"When I found out I was playing the role, Frank Berry very kindly created a sort of pack for me of research but I thought it would be really useful for me to go and meet Catherine and I am very, very glad I met her in her home environment because her home is so important to her and her family and her garden.
"I went over with the idea that we would probably be looking at maps or documents. As we spoke, and particularly when she showed me the model she had created of the mother and baby home, she made it because there just wasn’t the photographs of it available. It was important for her to have something to show the survivors.
"There’s a real spiritual aspect to Catherine. I found myself asking her what her favourite thing is and what’s important to her and she said ‘my garden’. They have an incredible field at the back of their small holding and Shadow the dog came with us. Catherine being Catherine found out as much about me as I did about her."
Read our review: Magnificent small scale filmmaking that leaves a profound impact
Catherine was adamant that this would not be a movie about her - it is about the babies and the survivors . . .
"It’s really clear when you meet her and her approach to the whole thing, she really is without ego. Everything about her is about wanting to get the message out there and the truth out there."
One of the best things about this movie is the pacing, the script, and tone and how the story unfolds. It is about an ordinary woman living an ordinary life as she exposes great wrongdoing. None of it is sensationalistic but it is utterly gripping . . .
"There are personal journeys within this film. She didn’t want it to be about her but I had to find strands within it to do with her growing or confronting things she doesn’t want to, one of them is public speaking. It was all very daunting for her and that all leads up the end when she speaks to everyone at the hotel."
You met some of the survivors of the mother and baby home. How would you describe that experience?
"Me and Frank Berry met some of the survivors in the hotel where we were staying and really, all of their stories are quite different but there is definitely something that unites them and you can really sense that amongst them.
"The second last day of filming was an extraordinary day. We were filming the scene where Catherine is speaking to the actual survivors in the hotel and is challenging everyone to create another event around the story when the Pope visits Ireland - that day was extremely affecting because those people were so supportive of what was happening in the room.
"There were so many survivors in the room that day that I was addressing as Catherine. I did have to stop at one stage. It was very overwhelming. I really felt the bravery in the room."
It’s extraordinary to think that the last of these homes was closed as recently as 1998. Your mum’s from Enniscorthy and your dad’s from Swords in Dublin. Did they ever discuss the subject with you?
"My parents hadn’t told me about it, no, but coming from Ireland to England, they were quite protective of the culture overall. When they were a lot older and I took them to see Philomena, they were just completely bowled over by it and ashen-faced after watching it and at the same time it seemed as through something had been lifted from them as well.
"They hadn’t really talked about it but I was obviously aware of it because I had friends who were appearing in The Magdalene Sisters and it was talked about. I think also I had a sense that my father’s school life was extremely difficult. They were Christian Brothers."
Are you expecting much opposition to and criticism of The Lost Children of Tuam?
"I haven’t expected any opposition. Essentially, we’re telling a story about something that happened and somebody, who is a very beautiful soul and who cares, discovering the truth and being a hero. That’s undeniable. Maybe there will be people who will try and deny it but Catherine Corless will not be frightened. She is very much a woman of conviction.
"There have always been people who have opposed her and that is in the film. When I sat in her kitchen, she spoke about meetings she’d had where maybe people had written articles and shown up and tried to discredit her. But at the beginning of her book, it says something like ‘the truth is like a lion; you don’t have to defend it. If you let it out, it will defend itself’."
Liam Neeson was the catalyst for the film. He was so angered and moved by Dan Barry’s article in the New York Times about Tuam that he bought the rights to the piece so he could make this film. Was Neeson there much while you were shooting the film in Tuam?
"He was actually there for a scene where I, as Catherine, have assembled some survivors of the kitchen and the model of the home that Catherine built, the actual model; it’s not a prop, is on the table and as I am going through every part of the mother and baby home and telling the survivors ‘this is where your mother was brought in’, ‘this is where you would have been born . . . ‘
"That wasn’t an easy scene. I had to get it right; there were an awful lot of lines and you’ve got all of those people listening. It was at that point that Liam Neeson came to watch and it was probably the most difficult scene in the film. Did him being there help? No! Hopefully, there isn’t a glint in eye of me trying to show off to Liam Neeson!"
What do you hope people will take away from this film?
"I hope that we learn about history and that we need to use it for the future and that it is a valuable tool for our humanity. Some of this scene was cut but in the film, Catherine’s essay is read out and she is challenging the people in her class and she asks why are we studying history if you want to leave well enough alone? Should we have left the Holocaust alone? Should we have left slavery alone? If we can be brave enough to embrace the gravity and the truth of history then hopefully we can bring it forward."
The Lost Children of Tuam is in cinemas now
