Figure 1.--Here we see younger evcuee children at a chidren's home at Kilronan (winter 1940-41). Note that they are all toddlers. Cill Rónáin is the main settlement on Inishmore, one of the Aran Islands off the western coast of Ireland. We were not aware that British children were cared for in Ireland. They may have been children from Belfast. The home received money raised by the American Junior Red Cross. Source: Imperial War Museum.

Most of the British evacuee children were taken in by families. There were also institutions involved, homes that took in the children. Here our information is still very limited. We do not know much about these homes. Some may have been children's homes that already excisted and they took in extra children. But we know that some included stately country homes that were converted into children's homes during the World War II emergency. A good example is Lacock Abbey in Wiltshire, southwestern England. We have been unable to find much information on these children's homes and just how important they were in caring for evacuee children. It is not clear how they compared with the situation of the children taken in by families. We are also not sure about the groups opening and supporting these homes. The Government may have operted some. There were also private charrities. We do know that funding drives in America helped support these homes. The home here in Ireland was supported by the American Junior Red Cross (figure 1). We would be interested in any information readers may have about this subject. Nor are we sure about just which children were sent to these homes rather than assigned to families. Age may have been a factor.

Created: 4:58 AM 12/31/2011
Last updated: 6:22 PM 1/30/2023