Mamie Cadden

Mary Anne "Mamie" Cadden
Mugshot of Cadden, c. 1939
Born
Mary Anne Caden

(1891-11-27)27 November 1891
Scranton, Pennsylvania, US
Died20 April 1959(1959-04-20) (aged 67)
Dublin, Ireland
Known for
  • Providing illegal abortions
  • Providing medical care
  • Midwifery
Criminal charge
  • 1939: Child abandonment
  • 1945: An attempt to procure a miscarriage
  • 1956: Murder
Penalty
  • 1939: 1 year imprisonment
  • 1945: 5 years imprisonment
  • 1956: Death by hanging (Commuted to Life imprisonment)
Imprisoned at

Mary Anne "Mamie" Cadden (27 October 1891 – 20 April 1959) was an American-born Irish midwife, backstreet abortionist, and convicted murderer. She was born 27 October 1891 in Scranton, Pennsylvania, to Irish parents Patrick and Mary Cadden. In 1895, Cadden and her family returned to Lahardane in County Mayo, Ireland, where she completed years of schooling. Once she obtained her spot on the list of licensed midwives in Dublin, she opened a series of maternity nursing homes to aid women with health issues and to perform illegal abortions. After a series of criminal convictions, Cadden lost her status as a licensed midwife. In 1944, Cadden was charged and convicted for the murder of 33-year-old Helen O'Reilly. She was sentenced to life in prison, and after a year at Mountjoy prison, she was declared insane and moved to the criminal lunatic asylum Dundrum, where she died of a heart attack on 20 April 1959. Although many people committed backstreet abortions during the period of Cadden's life, Cadden was the only person in Ireland to be sentenced to the death penalty for a maternal death occurring as a result of an abortion.[1][2] As the most notorious Irish abortionist of her era, the term 'Nurse Cadden' was synonymous with evil in the Irish public's mind.[3]

  1. ^ "Mamie Cadden and the Unlearned Lesson. #repealthe8th – Human Rights in Ireland". humanrights.ie. Retrieved 1 December 2017.
  2. ^ White, Lawrence William (October 2009). "Cadden, Mary Anne ('Mamie') ('Nurse Cadden')". Dictionary of Irish Biography. Retrieved 30 July 2022.
  3. ^ "The Irish abortion question has always been linked to class, secrecy and moral judgment". The Irish Times. Retrieved 1 December 2017.