Are little things like this based on a true story?

SPOILER ALERT: This article contains potential spoilers for Small Things Like These.

Little things like that paints a fascinating picture of life in Ireland throughout the 20th century. Adapted from the 2021 novel by Claire Keegan, the film looks at the life of Bill Furlong, a coal merchant who lives in Wexford, Ireland, and works hard to support his wife and children. On Christmas Eve 1985, he becomes suspicious of the town’s local convent and strives to uncover the secrets of the Madalena laundry, run by the convent’s nuns.

The cast of Little things like that is led by Irish actor Cillian Murphy in his first film since his Oscar-winning performance in Oppenheimer. Premiering at the Berlin Film Festival, Little things like that received a high critical score on Rotten Tomatoes and was considered an excellent follow-up film for Murphy after his success in Oppenheimer. The film was described by critics as “a moderate and purposeful drama” which looks at Ireland during the 1980s and offers an insight into the experiences of women who lived in the infamous Magdalene laundries.

Little things like these are inspired by the true story of Ireland’s Magdalene Laundries

Magdalene Laundries Housed “Fallen Women” Across Ireland

Although the characters portrayed in the film are fictional, Little things like that is inspired by the story of the Magdalene laundries in Ireland. Throughout the film, Bill has to live with the stigma of being the son of a single mother. His mother, Sarah, was ostracized by her family for becoming pregnant out of wedlock, but her employer, Mrs. Wilson, allowed her to continue working and helped her raise Bill as a child. Although Bill’s mother escaped the need to move into a Magdalene Laundromat, thousands of other women were not so lucky.

Established in Ireland during the 18th century, Madalena laundries were created to shelter and rescue women who had “fallen“in Irish society; named after Mary Magdalene, the laundries admitted unmarried pregnant women, orphaned girls, petty criminals, and those who were considered “very promiscuous“by society. Those admitted were often disowned by their families and forced to perform unpaid work, washing and cleaning clothes from morning to night, under the strict observation of the nuns who took care of the laundries. According to the NCWIbetween 1790 and 1996, around 30,000 women and girls were detained in the Madalena laundries throughout Ireland.

Ireland’s Magdalene Laundry Scandals Explained

The laundromats were filled with stories of abuse and forced adoptions

Comments from Little things like that called the film a prime example of seeing but not telling. While delivering coal to the local convent, Bill witnesses a young woman being forcibly taken to the laundry; he later discovers a girl named Sarah, locked outside the building in the cold. These moments make Bill question the true nature of Madalena’s dirty laundry, but he is repeatedly told to remain quiet about what he sees. Although there was quiet speculation about abuse, it was not until 1993, when a mass grave of 155 Magdalene women was discovered in Donnybrook, that the realities of life inside the laundries were revealed (via The Irish Times).

Since 1993, Survivors spoke about the harsh abuse and cruelty they faced at the hands of the nuns; Magdalene women were often deprived of food, severely beaten if they performed their work poorly, and locked in solitary confinement (via History). The children of single mothers were forcibly adopted and anyone who tried to escape was beaten and transferred to another laundry. Some female inmates successfully escaped or were rescued by supportive relatives, but many women were forced to work in the laundries for the rest of their lives (via JFMR).

What happened to the Magdalene laundries in Ireland?

The last Madalena laundry closed in 1996

The film Little things like that takes place in New Ross, Co. The laundry located in New Ross was run by the Sisters of the Good Shepherd, and was one of 10 Magdalene laundries in Ireland. Although the film depicts the laundry as being open and operating in 1985, in reality it closed in 1967. Over time, society changed and women’s rights were introduced in Ireland, meaning that the number of women sent to the Magdalene Laundries decreased slowly until the last laundromat closed in 1996.

In 2013, the Irish government issued a formal apology to the Magdalene womenrecognizing the harsh treatment they suffered; survivors continue to campaign for more justice. Several laundries were abandoned or demolished, but according to UCD Researchthere are plans to establish a remembrance center in the former laundry on Sean McDermott Street, Dublin. Although there is no confirmed date for the center’s opening, there is hope that people can learn about the true story of Lavandarias Madalena and, as illustrated in Little things like these, the importance of expressing oneself in society.

Sources: NCWI, The Irish Times, History, JMFR, UCD Research