Latest news with #TuamMotherandBabyHome
The Irish Sun
15-07-2025
- Health
- The Irish Sun
Dark history of Tuam mother and baby home as 2-year dig begins to identify 800 babies in historic mass grave exhumation
THE excavation on the grounds of the Tuam Mother and Baby Home began on Monday, 100 years after it was first established in Co Galway. A team of 3 The excavation on the grounds of the Tuam Mother and Baby Home has begun 3 A team of Irish and international forensic experts are taking part in the dig Credit:3 Catherine Corless managed to trace 796 of the babies who died at the home Credit:They will try to The site, surrounded by a 2.4 metre-high hoarding, is security monitored on a 24-hour basis to ensure the forensic integrity of the site during the excavation. Daniel MacSweeney, who A visit for families and survivors to view the site ahead of the commencement of the full excavation took place last Tuesday. Read more in News Here, Emma McMenamy looks at the dark history of the Tuam mother and baby home. 1925: A former workhouse which housed destitute adults and children during the famine was converted into a mother and baby home. Despite it being owned by Many women who had children out of wedlock were sent here, one of several institutions that existed and housed those who had been ostracised by Irish society. Most read in Irish News According to research, a child from the Tuam Mother and Baby Home died every two weeks between the years of 1925 and 1961. 1961: After the building had fallen into disrepair, those who were still there were moved to other institutions and the Tuam Mother and Baby Home officially closed its doors. Tuam mother and baby home: Catherine Corless's research revealed that 796 children died at St Mary's in Galway 1972: Work begins on a new council-owned housing estate in the area of the now demolished mother and baby home. 1975: While playing near the site of the old home, two 12-year-old boys discover skeletal remains in a concrete structure. Locals assume they are remains from a famine grave and call for a priest to bless the site before it is re-sealed. Locals believe it is an old burial site and erect a memorial garden and shrine to mark the area. 'VERY HIGH INFANT MORTALITY RATE' 2012: But she also asks the question why there are no records of where the Tuam babies who died at the home were buried. 2013: A year later Ms Corless goes about collating the death certificates of a staggering 798 children who died at the home. She managed to trace 796. CAMPAIGN CALL 2014: In February, the regional newspaper, The Connacht Tribune, publishes an interview with Ms Corless about her campaign for a permanent memorial for the babies who died at the Tuam home to include a plaque which would display all 796 infant names. Two months later, Mail on Sunday journalist Alison O'Reilly published a story claiming that up to 800 bodies could be buried at the site and the article gains massive international attention. By June, just a few months after the initial interview with Ms Corless about the Tuam babies, the Government announce that it is setting up a nationwide commission of investigation into Ireland's mother and baby homes. 2015: The commission panel is asked to examine the living conditions in the homes as well as the mortality rates, causes of death and burial arrangements. TEST DIGS BEGIN 2016: Test excavations at the site begin as part of the commission of investigation. 2018: Ms Corless is among those honoured at Ireland's People of the Year Awards. Minister for Children Katherine Zappone announces plans for a forensic excavation of the Tuam site. 2019: Four years after being established, the commission outlines its conclusions on burial arrangements at the homes in its fifth interim report and states that a total of 802 children died inside the Tuam Mother and Baby Home while it was open, as well as 12 mothers. 'OPEN TO CHALLENGE' 2020: President 2021: The final report of the commission's findings are published and it concludes that about 9,000 children died in the 18 institutions under investigation and it makes 53 recommendations including In response to the report, the Bon Secours offer their 'profound apologies 'to all the women and children who lived at the Tuam home. The then-Taoiseach 2022: The Irish government agreed draft legislation to excavate the Tuam site. 2025: Excavation finally begins at the Tuam Mother and Baby home site.
RTÉ News
15-07-2025
- General
- RTÉ News
'I have to have hope,' says Tuam relative as excavation works begin
The daughter of a woman whose child died in the Tuam Mother and Baby Home has described as "absolutely momentous" the beginning of excavation work at the site in Co Galway. Annette McKay's mother Maggie O'Connor was sent to an industrial school when her mother died in 1936. While there, Ms O'Connor became pregnant after she was raped by a caretaker when she was 17. She was then moved to Tuam Mother and Baby Home. Ms O'Connor was separated from her child after the birth and was moved to St Anne's in Loughrea. It was there where she was told that her baby, Mary Margaret, had died in Tuam. "Even a thimble full of Mary Margaret, to place that baby with her mum, would mean everything" Ms McKay spoke to RTÉ's News at One about her mother's experiences and the subsequent investigations and inquiries into the deaths at the Mother and Baby Home in Tuam. She explained that her mother did not speak about her experiences in the home until she was 70. "It was the birth of my first grandchild that upset her very much, which was not the case for my mum loved babies and it brought out this harrowing tale about her baby; her bonnie baby, Mary Margaret," she said. "It was just unreal, how could we have lived all our lives, and she get to be 70 and we didn't know about this terrible, terrible thing that had happened to her?" Ms McKay said that it also feels "very hard and emotional". "I've had my DNA taken because I'm in the group described as old and vulnerable," she said. "Because I'm on the advisory board, I do have this bird's eye view of the discussions around DNA techniques, what's possible, what's not possible, the ages of the babies. "The way they've been lying in the water table, commingled remains; it is technically very, very difficult, but I have to have hope." "Even a thimble full of Mary Margaret, to place that baby with her mum, would mean everything," Ms McKay said. Ms McKay said that her mother had been moved from Tuam to St Anne's in Loughrea, and she had been told that it was the women who the nuns regarded as "troublesome" or "wanting to spend too much time with their babies" who were moved from Tuam. "There was no bonding with that child to be allowed," she explained. "So mum was pegging washing out in Loughrea, and the nun came behind her and just said 'the child of your sin is dead' and they threw her out the same day - that's all she ever knew about that baby." She said that her mother was traumatised by her experiences in the Mother and Baby Home. "I always tell people the nuns lived in our home because the nuns were always present - all the trauma, all the damage, all the pain, all the stories. "I can recall now, the names of the sisters who abused my mother, so for her to keep that secret for 50 years, was a tremendous stigma and shame visited on those women." "They had no idea about how deep the trauma was and how terrible the experience she's lived through" After leaving the home, Ms O'Connor moved to Belfast, where she met Ms McKay's father. "She had my older brother in Belfast, but (the father) deserted her... she wrote to her sister in Bury and her brother-in-law came to rescue Maggie and my older brother. "My father reappeared again, then there were two more children, and then he deserted her for good. "So, Bury is where she remained and always described living in our town as a sanctuary." Ms McKay said that her mother had always referred to English people as "very welcoming" and had helped her though "traumatic episodes". "They had no idea about how deep the trauma was and how terrible the experience she's lived through." In 2015, the Government set up an investigation into 14 Mother and Baby homes and four county homes, which found "significant quantities" of human remains on the Tuam site. The inquiry found an "appalling level of infant mortality" in the institutions and said that no alarm was raised by the state over them, even though it was "known to local and national authorities". The State inquiry led to a formal government apology in 2021, the announcement of a redress scheme and an apology from the Sisters of Bon Secours. Ms McKay said that her mother had not been very interested in the redress scheme and had asked her daughter to deal with the proceedings. "A solicitor came and said she would take the case on and suddenly all this paperwork appeared - the baby's death certificate, the birth certificate and this place called Tuam. "Years later, in a story in an English newspaper: 'A terrible discovery in the West of Ireland of a grave containing a septic tank containing the bodies of 796 children'. "I knew she was on that list. And she was." A team of Irish and international forensic experts have broken ground at the site of the Mother and Baby Home in Tuam. The excavation will take two years and will try to identify the remains of the infants who died between 1925 and 1961, more than 11 years after Catherine Corless first drew attention to the burial site. Ms McKay described as "absolutely momentous" the beginning of the work at the site. "We were there last week, and the team gave us a chance to see what the site looks like now. It's forensically sealed and they were preparing to work. "I describe that journey as a chance to say goodbye for now."
RTÉ News
14-07-2025
- General
- RTÉ News
Start of excavation work 'momentous', says Tuam relative
The daughter of a woman whose child died in the Tuam Mother and Baby Home has described as "absolutely momentous" the beginning of excavation work at the site in Co Galway. Annette McKay's mother Maggie O'Connor was sent to an industrial school when her mother died in 1936. While there, she became pregnant after she was raped by a caretaker when she was 17. She was then moved to Tuam Mother and Baby Home. Ms O'Connor was separated from her child after the birth and was moved to St Anne's in Loughrea. It was there where she was told that her baby, Mary Margaret, had died in Tuam. Ms McKay spoke to RTÉ's News at One programme about her mother's experiences and the subsequent investigations and inquiries into the deaths at the Mother and Baby Home in Tuam. "Even a thimble full of Mary Margaret, to place that baby with her mum, would mean everything," Ms McKay said. She explained that her mother did not speak about her experiences in the home until she was 70. "It was the birth of my first grandchild that upset her very much, which was not the case for my mum loved babies and it brought out this harrowing tale about her baby; her bonnie baby, Mary Margaret," she said. "It was just unreal, how could we have lived all our lives, and she get to be 70 and we didn't know about this terrible, terrible thing that had happened to her?" Ms McKay said that her mother had been moved from Tuam to St Anne's in Loughrea, and she had been told that it was the women who the nuns regarded as "troublesome" or "wanting to spend too much time with their babies" who were moved from Tuam. "There was no bonding with that child to be allowed," she explained. "So mum was pegging washing out in Loughrea, and the nun came behind her and just said 'the child of your sin is dead' and they threw her out the same day - that's all she ever knew about that baby." She said that her mother was traumatised by her experiences in the Mother and Baby Home. "I always tell people the nuns lived in our home because the nuns were always present - all the trauma, all the damage, all the pain, all the stories. "I can recall now, the names of the sisters who abused my mother, so for her to keep that secret for 50 years, was a tremendous stigma and shame visited on those women." After leaving the home, Ms O'Connor moved to Belfast, where she met Ms McKay's father. "She had my older brother in Belfast, but (the father) deserted her... she wrote to her sister in Bury and her brother-in-law came to rescue Maggie and my older brother. "My father reappeared again, then there were two more children, and then he deserted her for good. "So, Bury is where she remained and always described living in our town as a sanctuary." Ms McKay said that her mother had always referred to English people as "very welcoming" and had helped her though "traumatic episodes". "They had no idea about how deep the trauma was and how terrible the experience she's lived through." In 2015, the Government set up an investigation into 14 Mother and Baby homes and four county homes, which found "significant quantities" of human remains on the Tuam site. The inquiry found an "appalling level of infant mortality" in the institutions and said that no alarm was raised by the state over them, even though it was "known to local and national authorities". The State inquiry led to a formal government apology in 2021, the announcement of a redress scheme and an apology from the Sisters of Bon Secours. Ms McKay said that her mother had not been very interested in the redress scheme and had asked her daughter to deal with the proceedings. "A solicitor came and said she would take the case on and suddenly all this paperwork appeared - the baby's death certificate, the birth certificate and this place called Tuam. "Years later, in a story in an English newspaper: 'A terrible discovery in the West of Ireland of a grave containing a septic tank containing the bodies of 796 children'. "I knew she was on that list. And she was." A team of Irish and international forensic experts have today broken ground at the site of the Mother and Baby Home in Tuam. The excavation will take two years and will try to identify the remains of the infants who died between 1925 and 1961, more than 11 years after Catherine Corless first drew attention to the burial site. Ms McKay described as "absolutely momentous" the beginning of the work at the site today. "We were there last week, and the team gave us a chance to see what the site looks like now. It's forensically sealed and they were preparing to work. "I describe that journey as a chance to say goodbye for now." Ms McKay said that the day also feels "very hard and emotional". "I've had my DNA taken because I'm in the group described as old and vulnerable," she said. "Because I'm on the advisory board, I do have this bird's eye view of the discussions around DNA techniques, what's possible, what's not possible, the ages of the babies. "The way they've been lying in the water table, commingled remains; it is technically very, very difficult, but I have to have hope. "Even a thimble full of Mary Margaret, to place that baby with her mum, would mean everything."
Irish Examiner
29-04-2025
- General
- Irish Examiner
Exhumation of Tuam babies' mass grave to begin in June, confirms intervention director
The long-awaited exhumation of the Tuam babies' mass grave will get underway in June, the Director of the Authorised Intervention has revealed. A statement issued on Tuesday morning on behalf of Daniel MacSweeney, who is leading the works in Co Galway, said the intervention – the first of its kind in Ireland – 'is due to start in the second half of June this year, pending the appointment of the excavation contractor.' Mr MacSweeney said he expects to confirm exact dates in mid-May when the excavation contractor and forensic team have spoken to the 'families of people who were in the Tuam institution, survivors, advocates, residents living in proximity to the site, and others who have been most impacted.' He explained that the burial site will be 'forensically sealed at all times during the excavation," and that the team is "hoping to facilitate on-site visits for survivors and family members at the beginning of the excavation.' In 2014, local historian Catherine Corless uncovered the names of 796 children who died in the religiously run home from 1925 to 1961. Since then, a number of test excavations in 2016 and 2017 confirmed that the remains of children found at the site were from the Tuam Mother and Baby Home. When the nuns sold the land in the early 2000s, they exhumed the remains of their colleagues who were buried in the nearby Bon Secours private hospital but left the children in the mass grave. There was outrage all over the world when the story emerged that 796 children were buried in large chambers in a septic tank on the grounds of the home and were not given a proper burial. In 2014, local historian Catherine Corless uncovered the names of 796 children who died in the religiously run home from 1925 to 1961. Picture: Laura Hutton/ A Commission of Inquiry was established to investigate the circumstances of 14 homes and four county homes, and survivors received a State apology in 2021. Families and campaigners have long called for the children to be removed from the site and given a proper burial. Mr MacSweeney added: 'Our work is centred around the people and groups who have been most impacted by the former Mother and Baby institution in Tuam. 'This includes families, survivors, and the Tuam community. Our work will be conducted in accordance with international standards and best practice, and in keeping with our core values. 'Substantial and meaningful planning has gone into this unique and incredibly complex excavation. As part of this, we are in the process of appointing a talented, high-calibre multidisciplinary forensic team and a main excavation contractor. 'The excavation will take place in two parts. Further details on the forensic approach being taken will be shared at the start of the excavation.' Annette McKay's sister, Mary Margaret O'Connor, died while in the Tuam home in 1943. She told the Irish Examiner, 'I am absolutely delighted that finally we have concrete news. 'It is very emotional considering it has taken us over 10 years to get to this point, where we finally might see the end of a terrible story and we can lay these little ones to rest.' For more information about the Office of the Director of Authorised Intervention, Tuam, see
