How Tuam, synonymous with a dark side of Irish history, can finally ‘do the right thing'
The laughter and shouts of children playing filled the air outside Trinity Primary School in Tuam,
Co Galway
, during break time on Monday morning.
Further along the Dublin Road, just a short walk away, there is a very different playground. Under this site, it is believed that hundreds of children could be buried in a mass grave.
Mother and baby homes now seem a world away but, not that long ago, they were to be found in towns across the country.
In recent years, the name of Tuam has become synonymous with an Ireland of the past - a place which treated children born outside of marriage, and the women who gave birth to them, as problems that needed to be hidden.
READ MORE
They were often shipped off to live in
mother and baby institutions
, kept behind high walls. Out of sight and, largely, out of mind.
'They didn't matter in life, and they didn't matter in death,' local historian
Catherine Corless
said of past attitudes towards 'illegitimate' children.
[
Catherine Corless: 'I was told more often than not that I was giving Tuam a bad name'
Opens in new window
]
Her research set off a chain of events which culminated in more 'walls' being built in Tuam this week but, this time, it is about 'doing the right thing', Ms Corless said. Access to the site of the town's former mother and baby home is being fenced off
ahead of an excavation due to start in mid-July
. The goal is to locate remains and, where possible, identify them so families can give their loved ones a dignified burial.
It has taken a long time to get to this point. In May 2014, the Irish Daily Mail published research by Ms Corless which indicated that almost 800 babies and infants may be buried at the site.
In the 11 years since, Ms Corless has become the name most associated with the site. Those years would prove she is a formidable force, but also as a naturally shy person, she initially found the level of public attention difficult.
'It was gruelling at times,' she said in Tuam on Monday.
People would stop her in the supermarket and complain about what she was doing. 'I got that so many times, and it really upset me.'
She was told she was 'giving Tuam a bad name' and 'tarnishing everyone' in the town.
She said people would also stop her relatives and tell them 'she shouldn't be doing that, it's wrong, leave them there, it's terrible what she's doing'.
While she has also received a lot of support, Ms Corless said the negative comments have not stopped. On Sunday, a man living in the US emailed her saying: 'You're about as credible as Santa Claus. You're a disgrace. I hope those nuns bring you to court.'
From the beginning, she had known she was facing an uphill battle.
'My husband Aidan – he was very uneasy at the start because he said, 'You're taking on the State and you're taking on the [Catholic] Church, the biggest, the most powerful people in Ireland. And still, he backed me.'
A truck delivers equipment to the site of the former Mother and Baby Home in Tuam, Co Galway, ahead of impending excavation works.
Photograph: Andrew Downes/xposure
Despite the setbacks, Ms Corless said the treatment of the babies and the lack of dignity in their burial was 'too horrific' for her to walk away.
'All those lovely little children and babies, that's the one thing that drove me. That's all that was in my mind – these babies are in a sewage system, they have to come out.'
Siobhán Holliman, editor of the Tuam Herald newspaper, said some local people may have 'felt they were being blamed for something that they had nothing to do with', especially when international media descended on the town after the revelations were first published.
However, most people are now 'supportive of what's going on', said Ms Holliman.
'Once people realised the extent of it, how many babies and infants died there, how many remains are up there – it's not a situation that can just be left.
'It's part of the town's history; you can't ignore history.'
A test excavation in 2017 discovered a significant amount of human remains in what appeared to be a decommissioned sewage chamber.
Ms Holliman said that while life has continued in the town since then, things felt somewhat 'on hold' while people waited for the full excavation to begin.
The process is expected to take two years, but she hopes it will finally bring 'some closure for the relatives, the survivors, the town, and residents up there'.
Most people in the street on Monday did not want to talk.
Others said what happened at the institution was 'terrible' and they were happy the excavation work is finally set to begin.
'It's about time,' said one man, who did not wish to be named. 'The poor babies.'
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