Families to visit Tuam mass grave site ahead of excavation
In 2014, research led by local historian Catherine Corless indicated that 796 babies and young children were buried in a sewage system at the Co Galway institution across that time period.
The St Mary's home for unmarried mothers and their children was run by the Bon Secours Sisters, a religious order of Catholic nuns.
Local historian Catherine Corless said it was a 'huge relief' to 'let go and back off' (Niall Carson/PA)
In 2021, Irish premier Micheal Martin delivered an apology on behalf of the state for the treatment of women and children who were housed in mother and baby homes across Ireland.
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 to the PA news agency on Monday, Ms Corless said she found it 'overwhelming' to see the excavation work proceed after her 10-year campaign.
'There was no will to do anything for those babies except leave them there and put a monument over them.
'But this was a sewer system and I couldn't give up on them. They were all baptised, they deserve to be in consecrated ground.'
Campaigner Anna Corrigan, whose mother, Bridget, was a resident of the Tuam Mother and Baby Home (Niall Carson/PA)
Ms Corless said it was a 'huge relief' to be able to 'let go and back off', after being faced with obstacles in her campaign from people she initially thought would be helpful.
'It is huge for me to know those babies are finally going to get the dignity they deserve – it is a wrong put right.'
Anna Corrigan, who discovered that she had two older brothers who were born while her mother was a resident at the Tuam home, visited the site on Monday.
Speaking to reporters, she said: 'These children were denied every human right in their lifetime, as was their mothers.
'They were denied dignity – and they were denied dignity and respect in death.
'So I'm hoping that today maybe will be the start of hearing them because I think they've been crying for an awful long time to be heard.'
Campaigner Anna Corrigan holds up the My Name is Bridget book with a list of some of the deceased children's names (Niall Carson/PA)
The work at the burial site, which is being undertaken by the Office of the Director of Authorised Intervention Tuam (ODAIT), will involve exhumation, analysis, identification if possible and re-interment of the remains at the site.
On Monday, ODAIT held a media briefing which gave members of the press access to the site.
The site, surrounded by a 2.4 metre-high hoarding, is subject to security monitoring on a 24-hour basis to ensure the forensic integrity of the site during the excavation.
The excavation is scheduled to begin on Monday and is anticipated to last two years.
Dr Niamh McCullagh points to a map of the excavation site (Niall Carson/PA)
Speaking to reporters, ODAIT leader Daniel MacSweeney said the family and survivor visit will be 'the most important event of the week'.
He said: 'We continue to work closely with the residents living close to the site to ensure minimum disruption is caused to them by the works.'
Mr MacSweeney said the excavation will work to international best practices when it came to forensic standards.
He said ODAIT was trying to restore dignity in death for the infants, adding that the remains would be reburied following consultation with families.
Daniel MacSweeney said the excavation will work to international best practice (Niall Carson/PA)
The work will involve a long, complex process of recovering all the remains within the site and then separating the 'mixed up' skeletal specimens by sorting them by age and using processes to assess sex.
This will allow for the individualisation of each set of remains and it is hoped that identification of some of those buried can take place with the assistance of DNA provided by families as well as other records.
Mr MacSweeney said the Bon Secours Sisters had provided ODAIT with access to its archive material and it is hoped that this will also help the identification process.
The team will also attempt to establish cause of death where possible.
A memorial near the burial site (Niall Carson/PA)
Dr Niamh McCullagh, a forensic archaeologist with ODAIT said a 2016 'test excavation' discovered 20 chambers within a disused sewage tank that contained infant remains ranging from 35 foetal weeks up to three years old, from a period matching the operation of the institution between 1925-1961.
Asked if it was possible that criminal cases may arise out of the work, Dr McCullagh said ODAIT is obliged to notify the local coroner of any evidence of violent or unnatural deaths.
Dr McCullagh said it is difficult to estimate how long it will take to separate and complete the process of identification of the 'commingled remains', as they are yet to establish the scale of the work ahead.
The team also expects to find personnel effects associated with the operation of the institution, having discovered items like shoes and feeding bottles in the 2016 dig.
However, the work will be complicated as excavators expect to uncover artefacts relating to previous uses of the site, including as a workhouse.
Workers near the site of the planned excavation (Niall Carson/PA)
Meanwhile, 14 people have provided DNA to ODAIT to assist with identification thus far.
Around 80 others have expressed interest in providing DNA samples to the team, including 30 who made contact in the last month.
Mr MacSweeney said he expects that more people will get in touch as the work proceeds.
The team has a 9.4 million euro budget for 2025, with further allocations yet to be finalised by the Department of Public Expenditure.
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