Timeline: Grim history of Ireland's mother and baby homes
The burial site, which could hold the remains of nearly 800 infants and young children, has forced the country and the Catholic Church to contend with its decades-long legacy of shunning unmarried mothers and separating them from their children left at the mercy of a cruel system.
Extensive maltreatment that contributed to the deaths of thousands of children has been gradually revealed over time. Here is a timeline of developments related to Ireland's network of mother and baby homes.
1800s
1846 — The Tuam workhouse opens on six acres to house 800 'inmates' who were destitute.
1900s
1921 — County Galway opens a mother and baby home in a former workhouse in Glenamaddy that is run by Bon Secours Sisters, a Catholic religious order.
1922-23 — The home is occupied by British troops during the Irish Civil War. Six members of an Irish Republican Army faction that opposed the treaty ending the war were executed there in 1923.
1925 — The Children's Home in Glenamaddy closes and reopens in the converted Tuam workhouse as a home for.
1961 — The Tuam home closes.
1970s — Two boys discover bones in an underground chamber on the grounds of the derelict home. Locals believe the grave includes victims of the Irish famine and create a memorial garden.
2000s
2012 — Local historian Catherine Corless publishes an article in the Journal of the Old Tuam Society that reveals many children died in the home. She later finds records of 796 deaths with no burial records. She reveals that the bones found in the 1970s were in the location of a defunct septic tank.
May 2014 — The Irish Mail publishes a story about nearly 800 unaccounted dead babies at the home and the possibility some are buried in the sewage tank. International news coverage leads to a public outcry.
June 2014 — The Irish government announces it will investigate mother and baby homes across Ireland, including Tuam.
February 2015 — The Commission of Investigation into Mother and Baby Homes is formally established.
March 2017 — A test excavation by the commission confirms 'significant quantities' of human remains of infants in underground chambers at the Tuam site. Tests show they ranged from 35 weeks to three years old.
2018 — The Irish government pledges to carry out a full forensic excavation and enact legislation to allow for the recovery and potential identification of remains.
October 2018 — Government officially approves a full forensic excavation of the Tuam site. The cost is estimated at 6—13 million ($7-15 million) euros.
January 2021 — The Commission's final report finds that about 9,000 children died in 18 institutions, including Tuam, from 1922 to 1998. Prime Minister Micheál Martin issues a state apology.
2022 — Ireland passes the Institutional Burials Act, giving legal authority to excavate, recover, and identify remains from sites such as Tuam.
Sundays
Kevin Rollason's Sunday newsletter honouring and remembering lives well-lived in Manitoba.
2023 — The Director of Authorised Intervention is established to oversee the Tuam excavation.
June 11, 2025 — The site is secured, and pre-excavation work begins.
July 14, 2025 — The excavation team begins its dig to recover remains.
___
Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP's collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Winnipeg Free Press
a day ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
Two pubs claim to be London's oldest riverside pub. Which one is right?
LONDON (AP) — On a charming cobblestone street tucked away in London's East End, a pub proudly hangs out a sign that reads 'Oldest riverside pub in London.' Across the Thames River, a pub with a different name makes the same bold claim. The unofficial title of the oldest riverside pub in the city has long been disputed, with both the Mayflower and the Prospect of Whitby laying claim to the title. The two contenders can be found along a quiet stretch of the Thames, far from the city's crowded souvenir shops and tourist sites, serving up traditional British dishes — from steak and ale pie to sticky toffee pudding — with a side of history. The Mayflower is named after the Pilgrim Mayflower ship, which set sail from the site in 1620 to begin its journey to America. Though it only got its name in 1957, it is said to have some of the ship's original timbers incorporated into its structure. Today, pubgoers who can prove direct descent from one of the Mayflower passengers can sign its 'Descendants Book.' Escaping the skyscrapers Every night, tourists step out of black cabs at the doors of the two pubs, trading the capital's modern skyscrapers for the storied streets of London's East End, lined with quaint terraced houses and red brick warehouses. In both pubs they enter spaces where old paintings hanging on dark paneled walls and other mementos of their histories seem to leave the contemporary world behind. 'There really is a feeling that you might have stepped back in time and could be drinking beer with sailors or pirates or anybody from any Dickens novels really,' said Emily Godwin, a Londoner who has been to both. She spoke while sipping a pint of lager with friends at the Prospect on a recent summer evening. The Prospect boasts a pewter bar – the longest of its kind in Britain — where the infamous 'Hanging Judge Jeffreys' is said to have watched the many hangings that took place at the nearby 'Execution Dock.' Early on, the pub was known as the Devil's Tavern due to its association with thieves and smugglers. A hanging noose outside serves as a reminder of the pub's grisly history. It 'feels like such a pocket of history in London,' Godwin said. 'So much of London's East End feels very new and trendy, and the Prospect feels like it's barely changed.' Challenging times for the pub industry British pubs have always been at the center of social life, with locals coming together over a pint, even in times of war and economic hardship. But the last five years have been challenging for the industry as pubs contended with the COVID-19 pandemic and rising costs. This year an estimated 378 venues are set to shutter across England, Wales, and Scotland, according to the British Beer and Pub Association. 'When a pub closes, it puts people out of a job, deprives communities of their heart and soul and hurts the local economy,' said Emma McClarkin, head of the BBPA. Pubs across the country have been forced to find new ways to attract customers. History is a big draw for pubgoers, with a trip to a traditional British pub coming in high on tourists' London bucket lists, raising the stakes of the Prospect and the Mayflower's competition. A 'loving rivalry' The Prospect claims it was established in 1520, with its original flagstone surviving an arson attack in 1666 — the same year as the Great Fire of London. The pub was outside of the city limits at that time and was not affected by the conflagration that gutted the medieval city. Justin Billington, assistant manager at the Prospect, said some people date the pub to its full reconstruction in 1774 after the 1666 fire. But he doesn't see it that way, noting that it operated continuously. The day after the fire, the workers rolled out a barrel of beer that had survived the flames and locals showed up with their tankards, drinking vessels, and enjoyed a drink on the spot. There were several reconstructions in the pub's subsequent history, but none withstood the salt water and shifting foundations of the Thames, Billington explained. Not, that is, until 1774 when the retired captain of a merchant ship called 'The Prospect' rebuilt it using the ship. 'This rebuild held and continues to hold on for dear life,' he said. If the pub was actually established in 1774, that would make the Mayflower — established in the 16th century — older. But there are no hard feelings between the pubs as Billington described their competition as a 'loving rivalry.' 'We compete against each other to be the oldest, and to serve the best food and drink,' he said. Monday Mornings The latest local business news and a lookahead to the coming week. The search for the oldest pub in London But the question remains: How can either pub definitively claim the title? Unlike the title of the 'Oldest pub in England,' held by the Porch House in southern England, which is said to date to the 10th century, there is no official certification for the oldest pub in London. Guinness World Records said it has not formally awarded the title because of the complexities created by numerous name changes, relocations and reconstructions. 'There are lots of very old pubs that might make a claim to being oldest, but it could be contested because it could be argued they weren't always in 'London,'' English historian and author Jacob Field said. 'Many pubs have changed name over time, making it hard to claim they are the oldest.'
CTV News
2 days ago
- CTV News
Pope to bestow one of Catholic Church's highest honors on Anglican convert John Henry Newman
VATICAN CITY — Pope Leo XIV decided Thursday to declare St. John Henry Newman a 'doctor' of the church, bestowing one of the Catholic Church's highest honors on the deeply influential 19th century Anglican convert who remains a unifying figure among conservatives and progressives. The Vatican said Leo confirmed the opinion of the Vatican's saint-making office during an audience with its prefect, Cardinal Marcello Semeraro, and would make the decision official soon. The designation, which has been in the works for years, is one of the most significant decisions of Leo's young papacy and also carries a personal meaning. Newman was strongly influenced by St. Augustine of Hippo, the inspiration of the pope's Augustinian religious order, and Leo's namesake, Pope Leo XIII, made Newman a Catholic cardinal in 1879 after his conversion. A theologian and poet, Newman is best known for his writings and sermons on the development of doctrine, truth and the nature of a university. He is admired by Catholics and Anglicans alike because he followed his conscience at great personal cost. When he defected from the Church of England to the Catholic Church in 1845, he lost friends, work and even family ties, believing the truth he was searching for could only be found in the Catholic faith. 'Newman was one of the great theologians of the 19th century,' said the Episcopal Bishop of Long Island, Rt. Rev. R. William Franklin. 'He was unique in having shaped both Anglicans and Roman Catholics. No one in recent history can match that achievement.' The title of doctor is reserved for people whose writings have greatly served the universal Catholic Church. Only three-dozen people have been given the title, including the 5th century St. Augustine, St. Francis de Sales and St. Teresa of Avila. Unifying figure Newman experts said the decision to add the British theologian to their ranks was deeply significant, given Newman's contribution to Christian understanding of conscience and education — and his near-universal appeal to progressives and conservatives alike. Jack Valero, who was spokesman for Newman's 2010 beatification and 2019 canonization ceremonies, said he had never come across anyone who had a problem with him. If back then Newman was the perfect unifying figure for a polarized church, he is even more so now, for a new pope who has made unity a core priority of his pontificate, Valero said. 'You know, I look at Pope Leo and I hear him say, 'We need unity, we need peace,' and so on and I think, 'Here's the man who's going to make it happen,'' he said. The first American pope vowed during his May 18 installation mass that he would work to heal divisions in the church so that it could become a force for peace. Leo has also repeatedly affirmed his identity as an Augustinian. Many scholars have long considered Newman to be the Augustine of the modern era, no easy feat considering the tough Vatican criteria for declaring a church doctor. The Vatican considers among other things the candidate's holiness in life, the eminence of his or her doctrinal and theological teaching and their enduring influence on the church. That has has meant that there have been only 37 doctors, and only one other (St. Teresa of Avila) who lived in the last 600 years, noted Mike Moreland, professor of law and religion at Leo's alma mater, Villanova University. But Newman 'kind of meets these criteria that the doctors of the church are held to represent,' he said in an interview. Newman's conversion Anglicans split from Rome in 1534 when English King Henry VIII was refused a marriage annulment. In the centuries that followed, Catholics were fined, discriminated against and killed for their faith. Newman was one of the founders of the so-called Oxford Movement of the 1830s, which sought to revive certain Roman Catholic doctrines in the Church of England by looking back to the traditions of the earliest Christian church. But he gave up a brilliant academic career at Oxford University and the pulpit of the university church to convert to Catholicism. As a Catholic, he became one of the most influential theologians of the era, bringing elements of the Anglican church into his new faith tradition. He died in Britain in 1890. Newman's path to being declared a doctor in the Catholic Church has been exceptionally quick. Pope Benedict XVI beatified him during a visit to Britain in 2010 and Pope Francis made him a saint in 2019, with then-Prince Charles in attendance. Francis was then on the receiving end of a concerted push by English-speaking bishops, in particular, to make him a doctor. ___ Nicole Winfield, The Associated Press
Toronto Star
2 days ago
- Toronto Star
Pope to bestow one of Catholic Church's highest honors on John Henry Newman, an Anglican convert
VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Leo XIV on Thursday decided to declare St. John Henry Newman a 'doctor' of the church, bestowing one of the Catholic Church's highest honors on the deeply influential 19th century Anglican convert who remains a unifying figure in both the Anglican and Catholic churches. The Vatican said Leo confirmed the opinion of the Vatican's saint-making office during an audience Thursday with its prefect, Cardinal Marcello Semeraro, and would make the decision official soon.
