Mamie Cadden

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 1956, Cadden was charged and convicted for the murder of 33-year-old Helen O'Reilly, a patient who died during an operation. She was sentenced to death, albeit her sentence was quickly commuted to life in prison since O'Reilly's death was unintentional. 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 death for a maternal death occurring as a result of an abortion. As one of the most discussed Irish abortionists of her era, some members of the Irish public associated the name "Nurse Cadden" with "evil".