Mamie Cadden

Irish murderer (1891–1959)

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. As the most notorious Irish abortionist of her era, the term 'Nurse Cadden' was synonymous with evil in the Irish public's mind.

Mamie Cadden was born Mary Anne Caden on 27 October 1891 in Scranton, Pennsylvania, to Patrick and Mary Caden, and was the eldest of seven children, five of whom survived infancy. Patrick and Mary Cadden had met in America, where Patrick worked as a miner. In 1895, upon the death of her paternal grandfather, Mamie's father inherited his father's farm and so Cadden and her family returned to Lahardane, County Mayo. Her parents settled down, purchased a small family farm, and opened a grocery store on their land. Cadden spent much of her early life on this farm, and continued to live there until she was 33 years old. This Catholic ethos helped ensure in the Irish health care system made things like contraceptives relatively inaccessible. In 1929, the Censorship of Publications Act banned the sale of literature that advocated the use of birth control. While the Act did not ban the access or sale of birth control, it did, however, ban the access to information about contraceptives. Birth control was officially prohibited in Ireland in 1935 until 1979. For many years, Catholic principles and Catholic professionals remained central to developments in the Irish medical scene. As a result, many women resorted to illegal abortions and contraceptives. These illegal actions were facilitated by people like Mamie Cadden.

After Cadden completed her training at the National Maternity Hospital, Dublin, she began working as a midwife. She first worked in the Alverno maternity nursing home on Portland Row in Dublin from 1927 to 1929. In 1929, she opened her own maternity nursing home in the suburb of Ranelagh which operated until 1931. At St Maelruin, Cadden gave help for health issues, pregnancies, illegal abortions, and foster care operations for unwanted children born. Her cousin, Molly O'Grady, helped as her maid and accomplice. Cadden also accepted fees for placing children in adoption. She also operated a fostering service, which placed children with families who received payment for caring for the child. She also procured abortions – both medical (using preparations such as ergot) and surgical (by injecting a solution). As there was a large demand for her services, Cadden did not need to advertise her work; and such an advertisement would have been illegal. Over 80 witnesses were called to give evidence in the trial, which lasted about a week. and on Monday 18 November 2007, an episode of the RTÉ television documentary series Scannal featured the case under the title "Scannal: Nurse Mamie Cadden".