Between 1925 and 1961, the remains of 796 children were interred in the grounds of St Mary's mother and baby home in Tuam, County Galway, many in a disused septic tank. The home, run by nuns from the Bon Secours order, had no burial records for the children who died there.
Local historian Catherine Corless, who uncovered the truth a decade ago, said the bones have mingled together due to water ingress. 'They are two-feet down from where we are standing,' she said. 'It became a handy way to dispose of them. They didn't have to account for the deaths.'
A team of forensic investigators led by Daniel Mac Sweeney, a former International Committee of the Red Cross envoy, will exhume, analyse and identify the remains. Children's Minister Roderic O'Gorman described it as 'one of the most complex operations of its kind in the world'. The goal is to give a respectful burial to all remains, using advanced DNA techniques to match samples with living relatives.
O'Gorman called Tuam 'a stain on our national conscience'. The home was part of a network of institutions for unmarried mothers, run by religious orders with state sanction, which overlooked deprivation and high infant mortality. A formal state apology was made in 2021 after a judicial commission report.
Corless, now 68, recalled encountering children from the home as a child, who were looked down upon. She said the children were treated as commodities, with healthier babies put up for adoption. She resisted calls to leave the remains in place, insisting on excavation: 'Let's expose the raw truth of what happened.'
