Forensic experts have started preparing to excavate the grounds of a former “mother and baby home” in Tuam, Ireland, where the remains of nearly 800 infants and children are thought to lie. The facility, run by the Catholic Bon Secours order, took in unmarried pregnant women and their babies between 1925 and 1961.
Historian Catherine Corless uncovered the names of 798 children who perished at the home, many of whom are believed to have been laid to rest in a decommissioned septic tank. Records show that only two received proper burials. The excavation area was closed off on June 16 as workers readied to begin the dig.
A 2021 Irish government inquiry found that around 9,000 children died across 18 similar institutions. Corless, who first brought the Tuam tragedy to light in 2014, expressed relief that the long-awaited investigation is finally under way. The Bon Secours order has since apologized publicly, but Corless continues to grapple with how such mistreatment of vulnerable children was ever allowed to occur.
