Ireland begins exhumation of 800 children’s remains at former church-run home
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The Tuam graveyard, where the bodies of babies were uncovered at the site of a former Catholic home for unmarried mothers
London: Ireland on Monday began the long-awaited excavation of the site of a former church-run institution where the remains of around 800 infants and young children were discovered in unmarked graves. The operation at the former Bon Secours Mother and Baby Home in Tuam, County Galway, marks a significant step in the country’s reckoning with decades of abuse in Catholic-run facilities.
The Tuam home, operated by an order of Catholic nuns, housed unmarried pregnant women and their children for much of the 20th century until its closure in 1961. Thousands of women were sent to such homes, often under social and family pressure, and many were forced to give up their babies for adoption.
In 2014, historian Catherine Corless uncovered death certificates for nearly 800 children who had died at the Tuam home between the 1920s and 1961, yet found burial records for only one child. This revelation prompted a government investigation, which led to the discovery of a mass grave beneath what was once a septic tank on the property.
Subsequent DNA analysis confirmed the remains belonged to babies and children ranging in age from 35 weeks’ gestation to three years old. The 2021 report of a major inquiry into Ireland’s mother-and-baby homes revealed that nearly 9,000 children had died in 18 such institutions across the country, with respiratory infections and gastroenteritis among the leading causes.
The Tuam site excavation is now being overseen by Daniel MacSweeney, who described the work as “unique and incredibly complex.” Survivors and family members will be given the opportunity to witness the excavation over the coming weeks. The memorial garden at the site has been placed under forensic control and closed to the public.
Forensic experts will recover, analyse, and preserve the remains. Identified remains will be returned to family members according to their wishes, while unidentified remains will be buried with dignity, officials said.
The entire process is expected to take two years.
With PTI inputs
