the Magdalene Sisters was a cinema-released movie, there was a BBC one called Sinners about a year previous (and was far superior, even though some of the actresses were in both)
China - sorry to disagree - the last one didn't close in the 60s. The last one actually closed in 1996.
Here's a reprinted Irish Times article from then
http://www.alliancesupport.org/news/archives/0 01939.html
In fact, some of the women are so institutionalized that they remain in care homes.