Asger Risom
After years of delays and advocacy, excavation will finally begin at the former Tuam mother and baby home, where nearly 800 children are believed to be buried in a disused sewage tank.
A patch of grass in the western Irish town of Tuam is about to expose one of the country’s darkest historical chapters.
Long suspected to contain the remains of nearly 800 children, the site was once part of a “mother and baby” home operated by Catholic nuns, institutions that housed unmarried pregnant women and their children, often under harrowing conditions.
Excavation Begins After Years of Resistance
The search for remains officially starts next month, following years of campaigning by local historian Catherine Corless.
Her discovery that 796 children died at the Tuam home, and may have been buried in a former septic tank, ignited national outrage. “There are so many babies, children just discarded here,” she told AFP.
Although the Bon Secours home closed in 1961 and was demolished in 1972, the burial site remained untouched until legislation passed in 2022 allowed for its investigation.
A forensic team was appointed in 2023 to lead the excavation, identification, and eventual reburial of remains.
A National Reckoning
The Tuam scandal opened the floodgates to a wider probe into Ireland’s “mother and baby” homes.
A government report released in 2021 found that around 9,000 children died in such institutions across the country, which housed more than 100,000 women and children over 76 years. These homes were often run jointly by local authorities and religious orders, with the Catholic Church playing a dominant role.
The findings, as reported by Irish Examiner, underscore a systemic pattern of neglect and abuse, often targeting children deemed “illegitimate.”
“All these babies were baptised, but the church turned a blind eye,” said Corless.
Families Still Seek Answers
For Anna Corrigan, whose brothers John and William were born in Tuam, the excavation brings both hope and pain.
One brother’s death was never officially recorded; the other was described in a 1947 report as “a miserable emaciated child.” She fears one or both may have been buried in the tank, or worse, illegally adopted.
“I never thought I’d see the day,” she said. “If we can even find and identify a certain amount, it’s not going to give us all closure—but it’s a start.”