THE PROCESS OF excavating children’s unmarked burials at the site of a former mother and baby institution has commenced in Tuam this morning, years after their existence was uncovered.

Many babies and young children were buried without a proper funeral or marked grave at the site where the Bon Secours Mother and Baby Home operated between 1925 and 1961.

It was one of many institutions in Ireland in the 20th century where unmarried mothers and their children were kept away from wider society and where mistreatment and abuse were often abundant.

Historian Catherine Corless, whose work was instrumental in revealing the burials at the Tuam home, uncovered the names of 796 children who died there between 1925 and 1960. 

Test excavations in 2017 confirmed the remains of babies and young children buried at the site in “horrific” circumstances. 

The discovery of the mass grave site at Tuam sparked a national conversation that instigated scrutiny of the institutions in the years since, with Taoiseach Micheál Martin making a formal State apology to survivors in 2021 – though survivors and campaigners say there is still much work that needs to be done to recognise and try to account for the trauma that women and their children were put through.

Roads around the site have been sealed off this morning. Lauren Boland Lauren Boland

Pre-excavation work to prepare the Tuam site has commenced today, with the excavation itself expected to start around the middle of next month.

The Office of the Director of Authorised Intervention, Tuam (ODAIT) has said it expects the work to take around 24 months to complete.

Daniel MacSweeney, who leads the office, described it as a “unique and incredibly complex excavation”.

For the duration of the excavation, the site will only be accessible to staff who are carrying out the works.

Roads around the site have been closed and a barrier has been erected around the perimeter. 24-hour security monitoring will also be implemented. MacSweeney said families were given an opportunity to visit the site before the work commenced.

The legislation enabling the excavation was passed in 2022.

Equipment being delivered at the site of the former Mother and Baby institution in Tuam. Andrew Downes Andrew Downes

Green Party leader Roderic O’Gorman, who was Minister for Children at the time and had responsibility in Government for work related to mother and baby homes, said the bill would “allow us, at long last, to afford the children interred in Tuam a dignified and respectful burial”.

“My sincere hope is that this will finally bring some form of solace and closure to the families and survivors who have been so deeply affected by this abhorrent situation,” O’Gorman said.

For survivors and their families of mother and baby homes across the country, the excavation of Tuam marks an important step in trying to find some kind of justice – but it’s also a reminder of how long it has taken to get to this point, and how many other sites around the country deserve the same examination as Tuam.

Speaking to reporters at the National Economic Dialogue in Dublin this morning, Taoiseach Micheál Martin said it is a “significant day” for Tuam.

“It’s a very, very difficult, harrowing story and situation. We have to wait and see what unfolds now as a result of the excavation,” he said. 

Laura Angela Collins is a campaigner whose mother, aunt and grandmother were all subjected to the cruelties of institutions.

Her grandmother Angelina Collins (who was renamed Angela in the laundry) was kept in a Magdalene laundry for decades and buried in a mass grave in Cork along with other women, and her mother Mary Teresa Collins grew up in an industrial school.  

Laura Collins and her brothers as children at the site of her grandmother's grave in Cork Laura Collins Laura Collins

Speaking to The Journal, Laura said that there are mixed emotions surrounding the Tuam excavation. 

She said the excavation represents “some hope” in a “dark situation”.

“It’s welcomed, and it’s something that emotionally is kind of positive, because we hope that there is an addressing of the treatment of these children and rectifying of what we believe to be crimes of the State and Church,” she said.

But at the same time, Laura said, the excavation in Tuam must be the start, not the end, of this type of work to uncover the extent of the atrocities at similar institutions around the country.

“There are so many places that deserve proper acknowledgement that haven’t received it, and neither has Tuam yet, and this is where it has to happen for Tuam but we can’t stop after Tuam either.”

Laura Collins with Catherine Corless, who presented Laura with a Traveller Pride award in 2019 for her work highlighting the injustices done in Magdalene laundries, industrial schools, mother and baby homes, and county homes.

Laura said that survivors and their families have waited far too long for recognition and justice.

“The government knew, we as a society knew, the people that lived next to the convents knew [what was happening],” she said.

“My family is still looking for the exhumation of my grandmother. I think a lot of us among the community are looking at Tuam as a start, and that we can’t allow it to be the end, because Tuam is just the tip of the iceberg.

“Recognition is so powerful. My family is hoping for that day that my grandmother gets recognition, just in the way that all of the women and children across the country deserve that day too.”

With reporting from Jane Moore