Investigation Commences to Identify Remains of 800 Infants at Irish Mother and Baby Home

Preparatory Work Begins to Identify Remains of 800 Infants at Irish Mother and Baby Home

Excavation crews have commenced sealing off the site in Tuam, Co Galway, preparing for a full-scale forensic investigation into the remains of infants who died at a mother and baby home between 1925 and 1961.

Her research pointed to the children’s likely final resting place: a disused septic tank discovered in 1975.

Local historian Catherine Corless, who first exposed the institution’s dark history, uncovered the names of 796 infants believed to be buried on the site, some in a disused septic tank. Her research prompted an official commission of investigation into these controversial institutions.

Excavation crews will seal off the site before beginning the search for remains next month.

These homes, run by religious orders with state sanction, were complex social environments where young women were sent to give birth, often facing significant stigma and systemic marginalization. The facilities doubled as orphanages and adoption agencies throughout much of the 20th century, characterized by high infant mortality rates and pervasive social prejudice.

“There are so many babies, children just discarded here,” Corless told Agence France-Presse, highlighting the emotional weight of the ongoing investigation.

Daniel MacSweeney, overseeing the operation, noted the excavation’s complexity, particularly given the site’s historical layersoriginally a workhouse where famine victims might also be buried.

The land, attached to a home run by nuns between 1925 and 1961, was left largely untouched after the institution was knocked down in 1972.

The preliminary work, expected to last four weeks, will precede a comprehensive excavation beginning 14 July. Hoarding has been placed around the site, now situated within a residential housing estate.

After giving birth at the homes, mothers were then separated from their children, often through adoption.

In 2021, the government issued a formal state apology following the commission’s report. Former Taoiseach Enda Kenny’s powerful 2017 parliamentary speech captured the collective societal responsibility, describing the homes as a reflection of Ireland’s “perverse relationship with respectability.”

The investigation represents a critical moment in confronting a painful chapter of Irish social history, seeking to restore dignity to those forgotten and marginalized.

The commission report concluded that 9,000 children had died in the homes across Ireland.

Photograph: Andrew Downes/PA

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