Shunned by their families, many who had given up their children shortly after birth were consigned to years of labor in harsh church-run workhouses known as Magdalene Laundries, named after Mary Magdalene, the woman saved by Christ. The mothers of O'Shea and Walsh were among the luckier ones who stayed for a time in more humane homes, until their children were sent away for adoption. Historian Moira Maguire's research found that about half of the children in such homes wound up eventually staying with their mothers in Ireland. But many others, either because of a lack of funds or the intolerance of family members, felt they had little choice but to release children to adoption.