Dig for Children's Remains Begins at Irish Home for Unwed Mothers

New York Times

14-07-2025

Excavators broke ground on Monday in western Ireland to search for the bodies of hundreds of babies and young children, some of them discarded in septic tanks, who died at a home for unwed mothers that was managed by Catholic nuns from 1925 to 1961.
The circumstances of the children's short lives, the treatment of the mothers and the decades of secrecy surrounding the deaths have been recognized widely as a profound moral stain on the Irish government, which funded the institution, and the Catholic Church, which managed it.
About half of the children, estimated to number about 800 in all, died before their first birthdays.
'Some of the families have been really seeking answers to these questions for many years,' Daniel MacSweeney, who directs the excavation, said in an interview. He leads the Office of the Director of Authorized Intervention, Tuam, an independent organization established by the Irish government in 2022 to recover the remains.
The team began with small motorized diggers, Mr. MacSweeney said, while specialists watched for signs of remains. Once bodies appear, he said, the work will continue by hand, noting 'the complexity of the challenge.'
Scientists estimate that infant bodies lie 'commingled' in the tanks under St. Mary's Mother and Baby Home in Tuam, a town in County Galway in the west of Ireland. The institution was long one of the most notorious homes for unwed mothers in Ireland.
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