Excavation efforts have begun at a location in Tuam, County Galway, Ireland, believed to be the final resting place of nearly 800 infants and children. The site, previously a home for unmarried mothers operated by Catholic nuns, is thought to hold the remains of children who passed away between 1925 and 1961. Research conducted by local historian Catherine Corless suggests that only two of the 798 children who died at the home were laid to rest in a nearby cemetery.
The site, known as the Bon Secours Mother and Baby Home, was a maternity institution for unwed mothers and their children, overseen by a Catholic religious order. The home was razed in 1971 and is currently encircled by a modern apartment complex. Unmarried pregnant women were sent to the home to deliver their babies and were required to stay for a year to perform unpaid labor. They were separated from their newborns, who were cared for by the nuns until they were adopted, often without the knowledge or consent of their families.
The full scope of the tragedy at Bon Secours came to light in 2014, due to Corless’s research. Her work suggested that the children’s final resting place was a disused septic tank discovered in 1975. It wasn’t until 2022 that the government passed legislation allowing excavation work to commence at Tuam.
A team of investigators has now embarked on a forensic investigation, which is projected to take up to two years. The objective is to identify the remains of the infants, provide them with a dignified reburial, and offer some measure of closure to survivors. Annette McKay, whose sister is thought to be one of the victims, voiced her longing for closure, regardless of how many remains are discovered.
Bon Secours was part of a broader network of oppressive institutions in Ireland, the full extent of which has only been uncovered in recent years. Mothers at Bon Secours who had additional children out of wedlock were sent to Magdalene laundries, notorious Irish institutions for so-called “fallen women,” typically run by Catholic orders but tacitly supported by the state.
The term “fallen women” was initially used predominantly for 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 established which has so far paid out the equivalent of $32.7 million to 814 survivors.