Maureen Sullivan
Appearances
The Oprah Podcast
Claire Keegan: “Small Things Like These”| Oprah’s Book Club
Our father had died. He died just before I was born and my mother remarried.
The Oprah Podcast
Claire Keegan: “Small Things Like These”| Oprah’s Book Club
She called me into the office and I told her that my stepfather was hurting me. It was sexual abuse and I was only a little child. The next day that there was and he came to collect me. I was innocent. I thought I was going to go to school. The day I arrived, I knew by the two nuns that had come out to greet me, I knew straight away, this is not going to be good.
The Oprah Podcast
Claire Keegan: “Small Things Like These”| Oprah’s Book Club
In the morning you'd go up early and you'd clean the corridors. One morning you might polish them, the next morning you'd shine them, the next morning you'd wash them again, and then you'd go to Mass, then you'd come back and you'd have your breakfast, and then you'd go on to work in the laundry. If you maybe weren't working quick enough, you'd get a dig of the cross. into you.
The Oprah Podcast
Claire Keegan: “Small Things Like These”| Oprah’s Book Club
They used to carry these rosary beads around on them, big long rosary beads, but the cross was real big on it and they'd put their two fingers around the cross and they'd just dig it in. They'd be bruises on you for weeks after it.
The Oprah Podcast
Claire Keegan: “Small Things Like These”| Oprah’s Book Club
It was just horrific and you were afraid to talk about it. and the way that the church covered up. Nobody cared. I think I thought I was there for life. And of course it's in your head, am I ever going to get out of here? Is this my life now?
The Oprah Podcast
Claire Keegan: “Small Things Like These”| Oprah’s Book Club
Yes, a lot of motions came up, but when you would get deep into it, I liked the way she told the truth about the nuns, the way that they were able to bribe people, the power that they had in Ireland. I think that's the first time that it's ever really come out that strong.
The Oprah Podcast
Claire Keegan: “Small Things Like These”| Oprah’s Book Club
I did, yes. Yeah, I was in a very dark place. I think you're trying to survive in your younger life. And you're working and you're trying to survive. And then all of a sudden, then it just hits you some stage of your life. If you don't deal with it and try and heal, it will hit you in a big way. And that's what happened with me.
The Oprah Podcast
Claire Keegan: “Small Things Like These”| Oprah’s Book Club
I was in my early 30s, 34, 35. Early 30s.
The Oprah Podcast
Claire Keegan: “Small Things Like These”| Oprah’s Book Club
Yeah. I was punished. And not only that, I think the part that really hurt me is when you try to heal and you try to bring your story out and heal yourself, then they denied they were really trying to cover my story up and still are. And that's why I've written my book. They really want to hide my story.
The Oprah Podcast
Claire Keegan: “Small Things Like These”| Oprah’s Book Club
They don't want anybody knowing that that's what they've done with an innocent child that went to look for help. That nun approached me and she said, you look pale. You look very disturbed. You're not speaking to anybody. And I opened up and trusted her and told her my story. And I went back to the nuns. I'm very lucky in life in a lot of ways. I met very good people.
The Oprah Podcast
Claire Keegan: “Small Things Like These”| Oprah’s Book Club
And the man that I started working for, Ernie Stephenson, he took me down. I said to him, I'm going to bring my story forward. Will I damage your business? And he said, I don't care. He said, I will stand by you. He said, that story is horrific. He said, you have to get the truth out. And when I went to meet that nun, I'll never forget it.
The Oprah Podcast
Claire Keegan: “Small Things Like These”| Oprah’s Book Club
I asked her, well, he asked, my boss asked her, why was my name changed? Why was my hair cut? Why was I made a slave of? And why did they hide me and not give me my education? And her words was, I'll never forget. Mr. Stevenson, have you got children? And he said, I do. He said, I have two daughters. She said, would you like your children playing with Maureen? And he was shocked. And he said, why?
The Oprah Podcast
Claire Keegan: “Small Things Like These”| Oprah’s Book Club
And she said, we couldn't have Maureen playing with the other children. She would corrupt their little minds if they asked her why she was there. Wow. Yeah, I was a soiled child. So I was punished the whole way through for his crimes.
The Oprah Podcast
Claire Keegan: “Small Things Like These”| Oprah’s Book Club
Yeah. I mean, he brought his children up like that. You see, his own children heard these words, Maureen, the liar. He was himself covered in every way. How, how, how nasty and how evil of a man he was. Yeah.
The Oprah Podcast
Claire Keegan: “Small Things Like These”| Oprah’s Book Club
Yes, and I'd go back again to see it. The hope that you get from it, it was the truth that came out in it, the way the nuns were so corrupt, that they threatened people, your job could be gone, your children mightn't get into school. bribing with money. That's exactly what they did. And that side has never been told before. And then Cillian Murphy, the way he acted, it was just fantastic.
The Oprah Podcast
Claire Keegan: “Small Things Like These”| Oprah’s Book Club
Yes, I do. I do. And I thank Claire very much for writing that book. And I thank her for getting the movie and everything done. It's given us, we're healing. We're starting to heal. And I really do thank her.
The Oprah Podcast
Claire Keegan: “Small Things Like These”| Oprah’s Book Club
Hi, I had a family member who went through an experience like that. She was a teen mom, gave up her baby, and she just recently reunited with her son almost like 50 years later and had a really beautiful story and a beautiful reunion.
The Oprah Podcast
Claire Keegan: “Small Things Like These”| Oprah’s Book Club
But I was also wondering if you, I know you talked about your, if you had a personal connection to the characters, but did you have any personal connection to the laundries or anyone that you knew of that had the similar experiences that these women had? No, I didn't.