Infant remains found at Tuam mother and baby home excavation
By Cillian Sherlock, PA
Infant remains have been recovered from an excavation at the site of a former mother and baby home in Tuam, according to initial assessments.
The excavation of the site of St Mary’s mother and baby home in Tuam, Co Galway, is attempting to identify the remains of infants who died at the home between 1925 and 1961.
Archaeologists and other specialists started working at the site in July.
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 Office of the Director of Authorised Intervention Tuam (ODAIT), which is undertaking the work, issued an update on its work on Friday.
In an area around underground vaulted structures, ODAIT forensic experts have confirmed that seven sets of human remains have been recovered in an “adjacent location”.
Initial assessment indicates that these skeletal remains belong to infants and a full analysis will be carried out to estimate age at death.
However, ODAIT cannot say at this time whether they are from the Workhouse era (1841 to 1918), the military era (1918 to 1925) or the Mother and Baby Institution era (1925 to 1961) at the site.
Radiocarbon dating and other analyses are being carried out to aid in determining their era of origin, which is expected to take at least three months.
The “vaulted structures” are separate from the multi-chambered tank in the memorial garden, which was located in 2016/17.
The memorial garden will be excavated later in this process.
In a concurrent area focused on what was a former workhouse yard, the ODAIT has recovered seven other sets of historic, skeletal human remains consistent with the Workhouse era.
The ODAIT is also proceeding with its DNA identification programme.
It said it will begin contacting those who had expressed an interest in providing a DNA sample in the coming weeks.
Anyone who believes they are related to someone buried at the Tuam site who has not yet contacted ODAIT is invited to do so.
St Mary’s home for unmarried mothers and their children was run by the Bon Secours Sisters, a religious order of Catholic nuns.
In 2021, Taoiseach Micheál Martin apologised 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.
