Excavation work has commenced at a site in Tuam, County Galway, Ireland, where it is believed that the remains of nearly 800 infants and children are buried. The site, once a home for unwed mothers run by Catholic nuns, is suspected to contain the remains of children who died there between 1925 and 1961. Local historian Catherine Corless’ research indicates that only two of the 798 children who died at the home were buried in a nearby cemetery.
The site, known as the Bon Secours Mother and Baby Home, was a maternity institution for unmarried mothers and their offspring, managed by a Catholic religious order. The home was demolished in 1971 and is now surrounded by a modern apartment complex. Unwed pregnant women were sent to the home to give birth and were interned for a year to perform unpaid work. They were separated from their newborns, who were raised by the nuns until they were adopted, often without the consent of their families.
The full extent of the tragedy at Bon Secours was only revealed in 2014, thanks to Corless’s research. Her findings suggested that the children’s final resting place was a disused septic tank discovered in 1975. It was not until 2022 that legislation was passed in Parliament allowing excavation work to begin at Tuam.
A team of investigators has now begun a forensic investigation, which is expected to take up to two years. The goal is to identify the remains of the infants, provide them with a dignified reburial, and offer some degree of closure to survivors. Annette McKay, whose sister is believed to be one of the victims, expressed her desire for closure, regardless of how much remains are found.
Bon Secours was part of a larger network of oppressive institutions in Ireland, the full extent of which has only been revealed in recent years. Mothers at Bon Secours who had more children out of wedlock were sent to Magdalene laundries, infamous Irish institutions for so-called “fallen women,” usually run by Catholic orders but quietly supported by the state.
The term “fallen women” was initially applied mostly to sex workers, but the Magdalene laundries would come to house “seduced” women, victims of rape and incest, and female orphans or children abandoned or abused by their families. The last of the Magdalene laundries only closed their doors in the 1990s. In 2014, Ireland’s government issued a formal state apology and, in 2022, a compensation scheme was set up which has so far paid out the equivalent of $32.7 million to 814 survivors.