The second, even more fearful, form of incarceration was the network of Magdalene asylums where women were held, forced to work without pay in the attached laundries, and often institutionalized for the rest of their lives. The system, which was not particular to Ireland, dated back to the eighteenth century. What is remarkable is that it was not just allowed to continue in Ireland until 1996, but that it was actively renewed in 1960, just as the country was supposedly modernizing.
