25-05-2025
- Science
- Irish Daily Mirror
DNA breakthrough to help identify children buried at Tuam Mother and Baby Home
A breakthrough in extracting DNA from skeletal remains is now being used to help identify children buried at the Tuam Mother and Baby Home.
The new method was first used to identify the century-old remains of wrongly executed Harry Gleeson – was the first recipient of a posthumous pardon by the Irish government.
The technique of gathering DNA from human bone has also enabled the identification of decomposed bodies and bones recovered at sea.
Dr Edward Connolly, director of science and development at Forensic Science Ireland, said: 'It was driven by the desire to be able to get DNA profiles from bones to help identify someone.'
Along with helping to solve crimes, he saw it as nearly a public service.
Dr Connolly added: 'You're trying to identify missing bodies and get remains back to families.'
This week, FSI is hosting the European Academy of Forensic Science (EAFS) conference in Dublin while marking the 50th anniversary of the State Laboratory's foundation by the late Dr Jim Donovan, regarded as the father of modern Irish forensics.
The ever-growing DNA database – which has seen its profiles rise from 9,000 in 2016 to around 83,000 at the end of last year – proved pivotal in helping to identify an unknown sexual predator in a case which had remained unsolved for over a decade.
A woman, who was sexually assaulted while walking home through a park in Ireland at night in 2011, did not know her attacker.
Although a DNA profile was obtained from semen during a medical examination, it matched neither the national database nor any of the four suspects at the time.
In June 2022, more than a decade later, the unknown profile was shared through the EU's Prum system, which facilitates DNA exchange across member states. A match was found in the UK and passed to Garda Interpol, finally identifying the attacker.
In 2024, the DNA database, housed at the new futuristic €100million State laboratory, recorded 766 investigative matches – including 711 cases where DNA matched a crime stain.
Of these, 453 matches assisted single investigations, while the remaining 258 linked individuals to multiple cases, assisting with 425 investigations.
Dr Connolly said: 'In total, 868 cases have been aided.'
A match between crime scene samples was seen 55 times in 2024, uncovering 129 investigative links.
At the European Academy of Forensic Science's conference – EAFS 2025 – experts in DNA, toxicology, digital forensics, and AI-driven analysis from across Europe will exchange advancements in crime scene science.
One of the papers – presented by Dr. Stephen Clifford – will explain the painstaking DNA profiling process used to identify Harry Gleeson's remains which were buried in an unmarked grave in Mountjoy Prison.
Gleeson was wrongly executed for the murder of Moll McCarthy in 1940. The State laboratory traced his genetic signature through maternal and male relatives but first they had to gather his DNA.
Dr Connolly added: 'The key thing is being able to get a DNA profile from bones that are 100 years or so old.
'In the past we simply wouldn't have been able to do that.'
It was a quest which had begun years earlier when the scientists were frustrated at being unable to identify skeletal remains sent into the laboratory.
He added: 'We weren't able to proceed with them. So they stayed in the State pathologist's or coroner's office.
'We followed research literature in different countries, as they were able to develop and try to get DNA from bone. So, then we started doing it as well.'
FSI is one of Europe's leading laboratories in using next-generation sequencing, which they employed in the Gleeson case once they obtained the DNA. Dr Connolly said: 'You can delve into even smaller pieces of DNA, called SNPs [Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms], and that allows a greater degree of discrimination for identifying relatives.
'We were using Next Generation Sequencing, which allows us to look at something called mitochondrial DNA, which is passed down from mother to child. There is less changes in it so you can actually find you have the same mitochondrial DNA as your maternal relatives, including first cousins, as second cousins and so on.
'And also, there's something called Y-STR profiling, which simply looks at the Y chromosome found in males only. For Harry Gleeson, they used the combination of both profiling methods.'
He said the learning from the Mountjoy cases will be used to help identify the children in the mass grave in Tuam.
Dr Connolly said: 'We're using this Next Generation Sequencing technology to allow us to delve into that greater level of discrimination because you're looking at third-degree relatives, such as a grand nephew or niece, whereas normally, when you're trying to identify missing persons, you'd be looking at comparing DNA of closer relations, like a parents or a sibling.'
The EAFS 2025 conference programme covers everything from case studies, to DNA and Body fluids, Digital Evidence, Drugs, Forensic Medicine and Toxicology, and Biometric Traces.
A memorial is also being planned for Dr Jim Donovan, who founded the State Lab in 1975.
Dr Connolly said: 'Jim set up the lab and was instrumental in driving forensic science in Ireland. He was such a thorough, methodical scientist.'
He paid tribute to his colleague's dedication and work ethic after surviving a car-bomb assassination attempt by criminal Martin Cahill.
Dr Connolly added: 'He was unfortunately targeted and sustained injuries, which ultimately affected his whole life. It was a testament to his dedication and his work ethic that he still grew the lab. He was a real forensic scientist, down looking at the microscope and liked to keep in with things.
'He passed away earlier this year, and we thought it would be nice to mark Jim's contribution. We're holding a memorial service on June 9th, and we're naming our boardroom in his honour.'
The State lab outside Cellbridge – which wouldn't look out of place in a James Bond movie – is now considered 'one of the best in class worldwide'.
Dr Connolly added: 'We spent over €1million on new equipment. The future is here now. We have these pressurised rooms for DNA.'
But even as science advances, Dr Connolly said criminals have become more forensically aware.
He added: 'In one way, if evidence is left behind at a scene, we're in a better position now to identify the trace evidence, be it a DNA profile, trace evidence, paint, glass, or fibres.
'But over the years, criminals seem to have become more forensic aware.
'And certainly, if you think back on tiger kidnappings, they went in and went out, and they would have used bleach, so they were quite forensic aware. In a lot of cases, there wasn't actually any forensic evidence of value left at the scene, because they were quite thorough in doing a cleanup.'
With preserved evidence and fresh eyes, cold cases can find resolution.
Dr Connolly added: 'It's about how well the evidence was preserved.
'And then the gardai looking back and saying, 'Was there anything that wasn't submitted to the lab originally – and what can we do with it now?' There is always hope.'
