Families in Britain urged to come forward as Tuam exhumation work begins
These chambers were previously part of a sewage system, and the institution operated from 1925 to 1961. The intervention follows two years of preparation and planning due to the sensitive and complex nature of the work.
A shrine and garden at the site of the mass burial plot in Tuam
The aim of the intervention is to restore dignity in death and, where possible, to identify those believed to have died while resident in the institution.
ODAIT will recover the remains from what has been described by the Commission of Investigation as an inappropriate burial site, and, if identification is possible, offer dignified reburial in accordance with the wishes of family members and survivors.
Identification will rely on DNA samples from people who believe they may be related to those buried at the site. ODAIT has stated that this process will be 'challenging due to the young age of the children at death, the elapse of time since their death, the environmental conditions in Tuam and the likely small number of close relatives who can provide samples'.
To support this process, the agency is currently appealing for people to come forward who know or suspect they had a relative who died while resident in the Tuam Mother and Baby institution.
Initially, ODAIT is prioritising the collection of DNA from elderly and/or vulnerable individuals who may not be in a position to wait for the general phase of the Identification Programme to begin due to concerns about their age or health.
Those eligible to provide DNA samples under the legislation include (but may not be limited to): child, parent, sibling, half-sibling, grandparent, grandchild, aunt, uncle, niece, nephew, half-niece, half-nephew, grandniece or grandnephew.
Further information is available at the ODAIT website www.odait.ie, or by contacting the office at [email protected] or by phone at 00353 1 539 1777.
The work at Tuam forms one element of a broader set of measures announced by the Government as part of the Action Plan for Survivors and Former Residents of Mother and Baby and County Home Institutions, published in November 2021. Two additional key supports include:
Access to birth information, now available under the Birth Information and Tracing Act 2022, which provides a clear right of access to birth certificates and early life records for all those who were adopted, boarded out, nursed out, or affected by illegal birth registration. More details are available at www.birthinfo.ie.
The Mother and Baby Institutions Payment Scheme, which offers financial payments and enhanced health supports to eligible individuals in recognition of the circumstances they experienced while resident in these institutions. To learn more or apply, visit www.gov.ie/paymentscheme.
For those living in Britain who have been affected by the Mother and Baby and County Home system in Ireland, support is available through the following organisations:
The National Response Line (London Irish Centre): 0800 519 5519
Coventry Irish Society: 0247 625 6629
Fréa – Renewing Roots: 07432 138 682
If you live in Britain and are affected by any aspects of Mother and Baby and County Homes in the Republic of Ireland you can contact; The National Response line 0800 519 5519; Tuesday to Thursday 10am-4pm (The London Irish Centre), 0247 625 6629 (Coventry Irish Society) or 07432 138 68
See More: Exhumation, Galway, Irealnd, Mother And Baby Homes, Tuam
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Irish Examiner
19-07-2025
- Irish Examiner
‘We did our best': Religious order's defence of county home care sparks fresh redress row
The Sisters of Saint John of God have defended the care they gave unmarried mothers in a county home, saying there is 'no evidence that they did anything but their best' and described the women who were admitted there as 'banished' from society, new records reveal. The religious order was one of eight that met with former minister for children Roderic O'Gorman, along with officials from his department and the State Claims Agency, for discussions on voluntary contributions to the redress scheme. The meetings took place following the publication of the final report by the Commission of Inquiry into mother and baby homes in January 2021. That five-year investigation examined 14 mother and baby homes and four county homes, and one of its recommendations was a financial package be established to compensate survivors. The payment scheme, estimated to cost €800m, would benefit 34,000 survivors and was rolled out last year. Now, Freedom of Information records show for the first time the lengthy negotiations and correspondence between the Department of Children and the eight religious orders who ran the homes. Bed sheets with the names of hundreds of dead children draped on the gates of a mass burial site in Tuam, Co Galway. Picture: Niall Carson/PA Wire In 2023, Sheila Nunan, a former president of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions and former general secretary of the Irish National Teachers' Organisation, was appointed by Government to engage with the congregations involved in the inquiry. Her report delivered last April revealed only two out of the eight orders offered a financial contribution towards the cost of the Mother and Baby Institutions Payment Scheme. The Sisters of Bon Secours, who ran the Tuam home, offered €12.97m — a sum deemed as 'meaningful' and accepted by the Government. The Daughters of Charity of St Vincent De Paul offered a building to the Government, which FOI records released to the Irish Examiner show is currently being used by the Department of Education for children deemed "at risk". A third religious body — the Sisters of St John of God — did not contribute to the redress scheme and instead offered a donation of €75,000 to be used for a charitable purpose associated with mother and baby home survivors. Donation under strict conditions FOI records show that donation was offered under a series of strict conditions by the sisters, which stated: The donation if accepted, is not being given as compensation as it is not accepted that the congregation are obliged to compensate for something that they did not do; There is no evidence to indicate that the congregation participated in anything illegal, or untoward, so this would be a donation without any admission of liability; Any publicity around the donation will be by agreement with the congregation; If the congregation pay this money, a way needs to be found to protect the reputation and good work of the sisters, who did their best as employees at the County Home in Thomastown, and indeed the reputation of the Sisters of Saint John of Gods; If the minister can find a way to do this, that satisfies the congregation, this donation will be given. Children's minister Norma Foley: 'I have publicly stated that I am disappointed by the approach adopted by organisations, and I do believe that more could and should have been done by way of offering contributions to the payment scheme.'Picture: Niall Carson/PA Wire Minister for children Norma Foley declined the offer in a letter dated April 10, 2025, which said: 'As your offer is not in the context of the payment scheme, this is a matter for your order to address itself and is not a matter for consideration by Government.' 'Disappointed' by approach of organisations In correspondence with the six orders who did not contribute to the scheme, including the Sisters of St John of God, the minister said: 'I have publicly stated that I am disappointed by the approach adopted by organisations, and I do believe that more could and should have been done by way of offering contributions to the payment scheme.' She went on to say the purpose of her letter is to 'invite you to again consider the report and having reflected on its contents, to request you to take this opportunity to make a meaningful contribution towards the mother and baby institutions payment scheme.' Correspondence received by the Irish Examiner show a series of meetings took place with Ms Foley's predecessor Roderic O'Gorman, where he asked the congregations to make a moral contribution to the scheme. In the minutes of one meeting with the Sisters of St John of God on December 9, 2021, a spokesperson for the order said they 'were not governors or managers of this county home'. The meeting was told the order 'had examined the commission's report and statistical analysis provided with it and wished to make a number of overall comments'. The spokesperson said 'they acknowledge fully the awfulness of some of the stories that have come out of the mother and baby hones and the awfulness of how Irish society dealt with unmarried women and their children. 'It is not an era that anyone can be proud of,' she said. 'The sisters were employees responsible for the provision of nursing duties in the home, and this was the case throughout the period in question. She said there was a 'clear distinction here' and the Commission of Inquiry 'is clear in setting out the roles of the governors, the managers and the inspectors in managing and monitoring the county homes'. She went on to say: 'There is no evidence that they [the sisters] did anything but their best within the situation in which they found themselves. 'No evidence of mistreatment' 'Furthermore, there is no evidence or mention of mistreatment of or inappropriate behaviour by any of the sisters.' The congregation operated the former workhouse at Thomastown in Co Kilkenny. During the meeting, Mr O'Gorman was told: The sisters operated under a judgmental, under-funded and strict regime, synonymous with the societal attitudes at the time; Thomastown 'was not a mother and baby home' and there was a 'range of people eligible for care, not just single mothers and their children"; In 1923, those eligible for admission were categorised then as 'aged and infirm, chronic invalids, children, expectant unmarried mothers, harmless lunatics, and idiots'. The Commission of Inquiry report states it is clear the Thomastown Board actively segregated pregnant, married and single women, and limited access to maternity services on the basis of marital status; Married women had exclusive access to maternity services at the Kilkenny Central Hospital, while the unmarried woman had to travel to Thomastown. Another reference was also made during the meeting to the Commission of Inquiry report, which highlighted how 'the board instructed the matron to threaten women with confinement if they did not comply with the rules of the home [and that there] is no evidence to suggest that the matron took such action'. Of the 970 single expectant mothers admitted to Thomastown county home, there were three deaths recorded, none of which appeared to be childbirth-related, which is a 'testament to the nursing and midwifery care that these mothers received'. More than 50% of the mothers left the county home within 50 days of giving birth, and 80% left within six months, so those who stayed longer were in the minority, the minister was told. The register for deaths also shows from 1919 to 1962, there were 764 births, 140 children died, and the cause of death in most cases was lack of food and nutrition. 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She said how these women were treated by the State, by the men involved and by society is 'nothing short of a tragedy'. The Commission of Inquiry report said the 'children living in the home were adequality cared for' and that in 1962, 'the overall standard of care provided in the home was quite satisfactory'. The minister was also told at the meeting many of families of the mothers 'had banished them into the county home, knowing perhaps the harshness of the system there, as this was seen as punishment for wrongdoing'. Children's socks left on railings outside the offices of the the mother and baby homes Commission of Inquiry in 2021. Picture: Damien Storan The minutes show the spokesperson said: 'It was a way of saving face for families who didn't want to know/have anything to do with a so-called illegitimate child." She referred to the report again, which 'spells out in may places the role of the various State authorities in government the operations of the county home of Thomastown' and it was 'clear that the congregations' sisters were at the mercy of State authorities when trying to make improvements or in seeking to make conditions better'. She said the congregation 'does fully recognise the wrongs perpetrated on women and children in these institutions by society at-large at the time'. Mr O'Gorman said 'even though Thomastown was not a mother and baby home, the commission investigated mother and baby homes and a sample of county homes and made recommendations in respect of both". He said 'the role of responding to what happened cannot fall to the State alone. Survivors and the public need a collective response.' The congregation said they had 98 sisters, with an average age of 81, and was charged 'primarily with ensuring that these sisters are looked after as they live out the remainder of their lives'. No admission of liability They offered a sum of €75,000 to a charity 'in the spirit of woman and children who suffered in mother and baby homes and county homes across the country', but with no admission of liability or to be seen as compensation. This offer was declined by Norma Foley in April, who said it was 'disappointing.' Other correspondence dated April 14, 2025, showed the Government 'has agreed to explore the proposal the Daughters of Charity of St Vincent de Paul made by way of a voluntary contribution to the scheme'. The order said 'We are willing to transfer our title to a property to the State without encumbrance. 'You have correctly noted that the property involved is currently in use by the Department of Education and subject to an informal leasing agreement for the purposes of a community based high-support school for children considered 'at risk'." In the minutes of a meeting between the Bons Secours nuns, who ran the Tuam home in Galway, and Roderic O'Gorman on January 13, 2021, the order said it had followed the Commission of Inquiry report and outcome and had a few questions — the first was why those who spent less than six months in an institution as children, and children who were 'boarded out', were not included the in the scheme. Former children's minister Roderic O'Gorman said 'the role of responding to what happened cannot fall to the State alone. Survivors and the public need a collective response.' The order asked if there was 'any information on the breakdown of responsibility in terms of the roles of the county councils, the State and others'. The minister was also told in the meeting the Bons Secours order 'do not have records available to them, and asked how many surviving residents there are from the Tuam home'. The order also confirmed it would contribute to the scheme and asked if it 'might be possible to get numbers of surviving residents'. Mr O'Gorman explained while the commission's report touched on the issue of children being "boarded out" as an exit pathway from the institutions, the investigative role of the commission was in relation to time spent in mother and baby and county homes and the circumstances in these institutions. He said his 'point of focus was on a collective response' and 'he was hoping to ascertain from the meetings with congregations if they are equally willing to take responsibility for their role'. In a letter to the order dated April 30, 2025, a principal officer with the Mother and Baby Action Plant unit wrote to the nuns and said: 'As Minister Foley indicated, the Government has accepted Ms Nunan's recommendation concerning your willingness to make a voluntary contribution to the above scheme in the sum of €12.974,720'.
Irish Times
07-07-2025
- Irish Times
Tuam mother and baby home: 80 people come forward to give DNA to identify buried children
Around 80 people have come forward to date to give their DNA to the Office of the Director of Authorised Intervention, Tuam (ODAIT) ahead of the full excavation of the site of the former mother and baby institution in the Galway town. Director of the ODAIT Daniel MacSweeney, said the process of recovering and identifying remains from the site - where it is believed around 800 babies and young children could be buried - will be 'complex'. Speaking at a press conference in Tuam on Monday, Mr MacSweeney said that 40 to 50 people have come forward in the last two years. About 30 more people have come forward in recent weeks, ahead of the excavation process beginning next Monday. To date, DNA samples have been taken from 14 people. At present, the team is only collecting DNA samples from elderly or vulnerable people. READ MORE Mr MacSweeney said a range of relatives can give DNA - from both the maternal and paternal side - including parents, grandparents, siblings, aunts, uncles, nieces and nephews . He was unsure how long this DNA would be stored, but at least 'for the duration of our project' which is expected to take a minimum of two years. Daniel MacSweeney, director of ODAIT at a press conference in the hall of Tuam Stars GAA Club. Photograph: Dan Dennison 'Our mission statement is to restore dignity in death and, if possible, identity those who are inappropriately buried at the site ... and to rebury them with respect, with dignity, following a consultative process with the families.' Mr MacSweeney said the process of identifying remains will be 'challenging for many reasons'. 'We cannot underestimate the complexity of the task before us, the challenging nature of the site, as you will see, the age of the remains, the location of the burials,' he said. Dr Niamh McCullagh, the forensic archeologist who directed a test excavation at the site in 2016 and 2017, said many of the remains are 'commingled' - meaning 'their bones are mixed up and have lost their skeletal order or association'. A multidisciplinary approach will be taken in an effort to 'reassociate' the remains and, where possible, identify individuals, she said. 'We have a suite of methods by which we can attempt to sort commingled remains into individual sets of remains. We can sort remains by age at death, and we can try to assign biological sex to skeletal legal human remains - and this assists us with individualisation and reassociation processes,' Dr McCullagh told the press conference. She said a relatively new method developed by scientists at Durham University in the UK - which 'assists in assigning biological sex through the analysis of peptides in tooth enamel' - will be used by the team. Dr McCullagh noted that this method has only become available in recent years, and 'is just another example of how innovative and unique our approach here in Tuam is required to be'. The excavation will take place 11 years after research by local historian Catherine Corless revealed that 796 children died at the institution, which was run by the Bon Secours religious order between 1925-1961. A lack of burial records indicated the children could be buried on the site. The test excavation in 2016 and 2017 discovered a significant amount of human remains in what appeared to be a decommissioned sewage chamber. International experts from Colombia, Spain, UK, Canada, Australia and the US have joined Irish specialists to start the forensic excavation at the site. The ODAIT has been given a budget of €9.4 million for this year. The excavation process, which is due to begin on July 14th, is expected to take at least two years.
Irish Examiner
07-07-2025
- Irish Examiner
International experts join mass grave excavation at Tuam mother and baby home
An international team of experts have joined Irish specialists ahead of an excavation of a mass grave at the site of a notorious former mother and baby home in the west of Ireland. Personnel from Colombia, Spain, the UK, Canada and the US have joined the Office of the Director of Authorised Intervention (ODAIT) team in Tuam, Co Galway as pre-excavation work continues. The full-scale excavation of the site will try to identify the remains of infants who died at the home between 1925 and 1961. In 2014, research led by local historian Catherine Corless indicated that 796 babies and young children were buried in a sewage system at the Co Galway institution across that time period. A memorial left at the site of the former Mother and Baby institution in Tuam, Co Galway, at the start of pre-excavation works (Andrew Downes/ODAIT/PA) The St Mary's home for unmarried mothers and their children was run by the Bon Secours Sisters, a religious order of Catholic nuns. In 2021, Taoiseach Micheál Martin delivered an apology on behalf of the State for the treatment of women and children who were housed in mother and baby homes across Ireland. The Bon Secours Sisters also offered a 'profound apology' after acknowledging the order had 'failed to protect the inherent dignity' of women and children in the Tuam home. The work at the burial site, which is being undertaken by the ODAIT, will involve exhumation, analysis, identification if possible, and re-interment of the remains at the site. A 2.4-metre-high hoarding has been installed around the perimeter. Workers have arrived on site to prepare ahead of excavation works (Andrew Downes/ODAIT/PA) The site is subject to security monitoring on a 24-hour basis to ensure the forensic integrity of the site during the excavation. The excavation is expected to begin next week and is anticipated to last two years. Speaking as part of a media briefing at the site on Monday, ODAIT leader Daniel McSweeney said: 'We have reached an important new stage of this unique and incredibly complex excavation. It's three weeks since we took control of the site and significant progress has been made since then. 'We have recruited essential expert staff to the team, preparation work at the site is ongoing to safeguard the integrity of the site and the sensitive nature of the work.' A worker at the site of the former Mother and Baby institution in Tuam, Co Galway, at the start of pre-excavation works (Andrew Downes/ODAIT/PA) The ODAIT will host a 'Family and Survivors Day' on Tuesday, which Mr McSweeney described as 'the most important event of the week'. This event, which is closed to the media, will encompass a visit to the site and a meeting to 'keep them informed about the work that has taken place so far and about what will be taking place next'. He added: 'We continue to work closely with the residents living close to the site to ensure minimum disruption is caused to them by the works.'
