For Love of Claire by Fionnuala Batts

In 1964 Fionnuala Batts gave birth to a baby girl in furtive secrecy in a Dublin nursing home. Fionnuala was never allowed to see her baby who was born under anaesthetic, taken away from her immediately after the birth, and given up for adoption with her unwilling consent.

Fionnuala was an unmarried mother and mothers did not have many choices in the Ireland of the 1960's. They were not really supposed to exist.

During her pregnancy Fionnuala lived with a married couple in Dublin far away from her home town and her family. Her mother advised her not to go out before dusk in case someone might see her and learn the awful truth.

Members of the various "caring" agencies treated her with chilly disapproval. When Fiommuala signed the adoption papers all she was allowed to know was that her daughter had been adopted by a "medical family'.

This is the true story of how Fionnuala Batts, now happily married and living in England, used a few vital but scanty clues to search for her longed-for daughter. It is also the story of how a courageous woman revisited a forlorn past and triumphed over it.