Works begin in Ireland to exhume remains of hundreds of babies found at unwed mothers' home
Officials in Ireland began work Monday to excavate the site of a former church-run home for unmarried women and their babies to identify the remains of around 800 infants and young children who died there.
The long-awaited excavation at the former Bon Secours Mother and Baby Home in Tuam, County Galway in western Ireland, is part of a reckoning in an overwhelmingly Roman Catholic country with a history of abuses in church-run institutions.
The home, which was run by an order of Catholic nuns and closed in 1961, was one of many such institutions that housed tens of thousands of orphans and unmarried pregnant women who were forced to give up their children throughout much of the 20th century.
In 2014, historian Catherine Corless tracked down death certificates for nearly 800 children who died at the home in Tuam between the 1920s and 1961 — but could only find a burial record for one child.
Investigators later found a mass grave containing the remains of babies and young children in an underground sewage structure on the grounds of the home. DNA analysis found that the ages of the dead ranged from 35 weeks gestation to 3 years.
A major inquiry into the mother-and-baby homes found that in total, about 9,000 children died in 18 different mother-and-baby homes, with major causes including respiratory infections and gastroenteritis, otherwise known as the stomach flu.
The sisters who ran the Tuam home had offered a 'profound apology' and acknowledged that they had failed to 'protect the inherent dignity' of women and children housed there.
'It's a very, very difficult, harrowing story and situation. We have to wait to see what unfolds now as a result of the excavation," Irish Prime Minister Micheal Martin said Monday.
Daniel MacSweeney, who leads the exhumation of the babies' remains at Tuam, said that survivors and family members will have an opportunity to view the works in coming weeks.
'This is a unique and incredibly complex excavation," he said in a statement, adding that the memorial garden at the site will be under forensic control and closed to the public from Monday.
Forensic experts will analyze and preserve remains recovered from the site. Any identified remains will be returned to family members in accordance with their wishes, and unidentified remains will be buried with dignity and respect, officials said.
The works are expected to take two years to complete.
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The Independent
7 hours ago
- The Independent
Works begin in Ireland to exhume remains of hundreds of babies found at unwed mothers' home
Officials in Ireland began work Monday to excavate the site of a former church-run home for unmarried women and their babies to identify the remains of around 800 infants and young children who died there. The long-awaited excavation at the former Bon Secours Mother and Baby Home in Tuam, County Galway in western Ireland, is part of a reckoning in an overwhelmingly Roman Catholic country with a history of abuses in church-run institutions. The home, which was run by an order of Catholic nuns and closed in 1961, was one of many such institutions that housed tens of thousands of orphans and unmarried pregnant women who were forced to give up their children throughout much of the 20th century. In 2014, historian Catherine Corless tracked down death certificates for nearly 800 children who died at the home in Tuam between the 1920s and 1961 — but could only find a burial record for one child. Investigators later found a mass grave containing the remains of babies and young children in an underground sewage structure on the grounds of the home. DNA analysis found that the ages of the dead ranged from 35 weeks gestation to 3 years. A major inquiry into the mother-and-baby homes found that in total, about 9,000 children died in 18 different mother-and-baby homes, with major causes including respiratory infections and gastroenteritis, otherwise known as the stomach flu. The sisters who ran the Tuam home had offered a 'profound apology' and acknowledged that they had failed to 'protect the inherent dignity' of women and children housed there. 'It's a very, very difficult, harrowing story and situation. We have to wait to see what unfolds now as a result of the excavation," Irish Prime Minister Micheal Martin said Monday. Daniel MacSweeney, who leads the exhumation of the babies' remains at Tuam, said that survivors and family members will have an opportunity to view the works in coming weeks. 'This is a unique and incredibly complex excavation," he said in a statement, adding that the memorial garden at the site will be under forensic control and closed to the public from Monday. Forensic experts will analyze and preserve remains recovered from the site. Any identified remains will be returned to family members in accordance with their wishes, and unidentified remains will be buried with dignity and respect, officials said. The works are expected to take two years to complete.
STV News
8 hours ago
- STV News
Excavation to identify 796 babies and children buried in septic tank
The first mass forensic exhumation has begun at the site of a former Irish Catholic mother and baby institution, where it's believed the bodies of almost 800 babies and children are buried in a disused sewage tank. The former site of St Mary's Mother and Baby Home, in the town of Tuam, County Galway, was boarded up on Monday as forensic teams began the excavation process, expected to take around two years. The former institution, which operated between 1925 and 1961, was run by the Bon Secours Sisters, a religious order of Catholic nuns, as a maternity home for unmarried mothers and their children. The building was demolished after it closed and the site, including a memorial garden for the dead, is now situated in the middle of a housing estate. In 2014, local historian Catherine Corless, who had been researching the home, discovered that 796 babies and children who died at the institution had been buried in a disused subterranean septic tank on the grounds. The findings sent shockwaves across the Republic of Ireland and globally, but it was not for another decade that plans for the site's excavation were announced, despite years of campaigning by survivors and their families. Annette McKay, who lives in Greater Manchester, believes her sister Mary Margaret O'Connor is one of the babies buried on the Co Galway site. Maggie O'Connor suffered years of torment over the unanswered questions around the death of her firstborn. / Credit: Supplied / ITV News Mary died at the institution aged six-months old in 1943 from whooping cough and heart failure. Her mother, Maggie O'Connor, was told 'your child of sin is dead' and denied a funeral or proper burial for her baby. 'Today feels overwhelming, after a decade of campaigning, delays and obfuscation the exhumation will begin,' Ms McKay told ITV News. 'I hope every child is identified and buried with dignity and respect. As a member of the advisory board I know how difficult and complex this whole process will be. My thoughts and prayers are with all the survivors and families.' Ms O'Connor died in 2016 after suffering years of torment over the unanswered questions around the death of her firstborn. Pre-excavation works at the site of the former Mother and Baby institution in Tuam, Co Galway. / Credit: Andrew Downes / ODAIT The Office of the Director of Authorised Interventions at Tuam (ODAIT), led by Daniel MacSweeney, a former International Committee of the Red Cross envoy, is in charge of exhuming the bodies. ODAIT say the purpose of the work is to 'restore dignity in death and, where possible, an identity to those inappropriately buried at the site'. It is hoped this will give relatives and survivors the chance to hold a dignified reburial for their loved ones. There has been a public appeal to anyone who suspects a family member may have died in the Tuam institution to come forward to provide DNA to help identify the children and match them with any living relatives. However, the process will be 'challenging' due to the young age of the children, the elapse of time since their death, the environmental conditions in Tuam, and the 'likely small number of close relatives who can provide samples', ODAIT says. Once the initial set-up stages are complete, the team will begin digging the ground in mid July, starting at the playground and finishing at the area known as the children's mass grave. People gather to remember the children and babies buried at the former Tuam home for unmarried mothers. / Credit: PA Last week it was reported that a police investigation could be launched if the forensic specialists uncover evidence that any of the infants died unlawfully. Speaking to the Irish Examiner, a spokesperson for ODAIT said if any of the children died unnaturally, or if any remains found do not belong to children who lived at the home, gardaí will be notified. Earlier this year, ITV News revealed that as many as 10,000 women and babies may have been deported from Britain to Ireland between 1931 and 1977. Those children, now adults, often only found out they were British citizens decades later. A general view of a mass unmarked grave at the former site of the Bon Secours Mother and Baby Home in Tuam, Co Galway. / Credit: PA Dr Lorraine Grimes from Maynooth University has spent a decade investigating these institutions. Her research interviews with survivors found that many were forced to travel, some whilst heavily pregnant, against their will. Those mothers and their young children would have been transferred to similar institutions like the Mother and Baby Home in Tuam. 'They were prison-like institutions focused on rehabilitation of the woman's 'sin' – the sin being to have a child outside of marriage,' Dr Grimes told ITV News. 'These institutions were places of punishment and those who had more than one child outside of marriage were treated more harshly.' 'My baby was kidnapped': ITV News travels to Dublin to speak to victims of a 'horror' forced repatriation scheme run by British and Irish Catholic and state organisations for decades In 2021 the Irish Taoiseach Micheal Martin delivered a formal apology for historic forced adoption and the suffering caused. That apology was 'accompanied by a Government Action Plan for Survivors providing for actions under eight themes including redress, access to records and memorialisation,' a spokesperson for the Irish government said. 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. Speaking about the excavation on Monday, Mr Martin said: 'It's very significant day in respect of the excavation in Tuam. 'It's a very, very difficult harrowing story and situation. We have to wait to see what unfolds now as a result of the excavation.' Patrick Rodgers, regional manager of the charity Fréa, runs the group 'Renewing Roots' which supports those who were born or gave birth in Ireland's institutions and now live in the North of England. 'The beginning of exhumation work at the grounds of the Tuam Mother and Baby institution is a vital step to restoring some measure of dignity to those whose deaths and manner of burial caused so much anguish,' he told ITV News. 'At this time we remember the loved ones of those buried at the site as well as those who are buried at other institutions across the country.' For many survivors and their families, Monday marks a milestone moment. But their decades-long fight for justice for the 796 young lives lost still continues. If you or someone you know living in Britain has been affected by institutions in the Republic of Ireland, you can access support here: London Irish Centre (National Line) – open 10am-4pm every Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, call 0800 519 5519 or email community@ open 10am-4pm every Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, Irish in Britain (National) – call 0203 903 0994 or email info@ – call 0203 903 0994 or email info@ Fréa, Renewing Roots (North of England) – call 07432 138 682 or email call 07432 138 682 or email Coventry Irish Society (Midlands) – call 0247 625 6629 or email – call 0247 625 6629 or email ODAIT (Republic of Ireland) – for information about the excavation process or to supply DNA, Email: info@ Phone: (+353) 1 5391777 Get all the latest news from around the country Follow STV News Scan the QR code on your mobile device for all the latest news from around the country
BreakingNews.ie
12 hours ago
- BreakingNews.ie
Concerns over ‘prudent management' of NTPF raised in CHI report
An internal Children's Health Ireland (CHI) report raised concerns about prudent management of clinics funded through the National Treatment Purchase Fund (NTPF). The review also found that certain NTPF-funded clinics did not adhere to the standard of seeing the longest-waiting patients first. Advertisement In addition, data suggested that some CHI patients could have been seen by other departmental colleagues within the existing day-to-day services and 'potentially managed in a more pro-active way'. The NTPF, which is a body that arranges external treatments for patients on public hospital waiting lists as well as insourcing within public hospitals themselves, has come under scrutiny in recent weeks. It was reported that a CHI consultant breached HSE guidelines by referring patients he was seeing in his public practice to his weekend private clinics, rather than securing earlier treatment for them by referring them to HSE colleagues. The consultant was reported to have been paid thousands of euro through the NTPF, and the details were uncovered by an internal investigation by CHI into a certain department. Advertisement After calls for the CHI report to be made public, the body instead published a summary of its findings on Monday. However, Sinn Féin has described the 'limited' summary as inadequate. David Cullinane, the party's health spokesman, said: 'The shocking details contained in the review are circulating and casting shadows across the organisation. 'We know that it has documented serious governance and cultural issues in CHI, and details have been extensively published in the press.' Advertisement Sinn Fein's health spokesperson David Cullinane (Niall Carson/PA) CHI said it became evident in 2020 and 2021 that 'multiple legacy and deep-rooted issues existed' that regular meetings could not address and senior examiners were assigned to undertake a review of issues in the department. They found a number of issues in relation to a NTPF outpatient waiting list initiative. The examination suggested that, based on the documentation review, certain NTPF-funded clinics did not adhere to standards of chronological scheduling. Patients seen in the outpatient clinic who required ongoing treatment were placed on an already long inpatient waiting list without consideration of redistribution of patients to colleagues with a shorter waiting list. Advertisement The examination raised the issue as to the possibility that this could have led to any negative outcomes for patients. This raised concerns relating to the 'prudent and beneficial management of NTPF funding' and lack of oversight of access initiatives. The review also found a high attrition rate among support staff due to bullying issues. Most of those interviewed described a culture within the department where change was slow, lacked governance and robust processes, and was influenced by strong and challenging personalities. Advertisement These interpersonal difficulties among team members led to poor working relationships and a challenging working environment. A significant risk was identified where only one employee managed the needs of a complex tertiary speciality Half of medical trainees described the learning environment as not conducive to learning. As a reflection of this, The training body had indicated that there would be no intake of any new trainees or Specialist Registrars (SpRs) into the programme in 2022 due to concerns about the trainee experience which was reputationally damaging for CHI. Meanwhile, there was a substantial and persistent message of concern regarding the lack of strong site leadership and good governance, along with poor operational oversight and accountability. There was also consistent feedback that the challenging behaviours of some staff were not adequately addressed by the site leadership team. CHI, which listed a number of actions it had taken on foot of the findings, said it regularly conducts internal reviews and audits 'to ensure issues are identified and addressed across our services'. It said it recognises the importance of transparency and the interests of the broader public in relation to the issues identified in the report. On choosing to publish a summary of the review rather than the full document, it said the report came from an internal examination that was never intended to be made public. It said it was important that its staff feel safe to engage in such processes which result in service reports. CHI pointed out that the report states: 'This examination however, without question has demonstrated that there is a huge cohort of committed, diligent, people-centric staff across CHI willing and wanting change and reform. 'It is this cohort of staff with the support of strong leader's and good governance that will mend our culture and enable positive change across CHI.'
