FROM AN OLD SEPTIC TANK TO DOZENS OF FORGOTTEN COF...

FROM AN OLD SEPTIC TANK TO DOZENS OF FORGOTTEN COFFINS: The heartbreaking truth behind the “nuns’ mother and baby home” and the world-shaking excavation

Excavators have recovered the remains of 22 more infants at the site of a former home for unwed mothers and their babies in Ireland, where nearly 800 children are believed to have died.

In an update on Wednesday, July 22, the Office of the Director of Authorized Intervention, Tuam (ODAIT) announced the discovery of 22 infants in coffins at the former Mother and Baby Home in Tuam, County Galway — an institution for unwed mothers and their children run by the Bon Secours Sisters, an order of Catholic nuns, from 1925 to 1961.

The area where the remains were found was marked in historical documents as a “burial ground,” but nonetheless was covered in asphalt and gravel and used as a driveway in the intervening years, according to ODAIT.

The recovery brings the total number of infants’ remains found at the site to 99 since excavation began last year.

The site became infamous in 2014 when local historian Catherine Corless discovered 796 death certificates for juveniles at the site, but no records of where they were buried. Test excavations at the Mother and Baby Home site in 2017 confirmed the presence of human remains on the property, specifically the site of a former septic tank.

Charles McQuillan/Getty

The Irish government authorized a full site excavation that began last year, and the process is expected to continue into 2027. The Galway County Council and the Bon Secours Sisters have issued formal apologies, according to the BBC.

So far, 62 people have submitted their DNA to be tested against remains found at the site, per ODAIT.

ODAIT

The mother and child homes, under the auspices of the Catholic Church, sought to isolate women who had children out of wedlock from the rest of society.

A report from the Irish government found the homes saw high rates of maternal and infant mortality. The women were subject to emotional and physical abuse, poor nutrition, bad accommodations and forced, unpaid labor; the children were sometimes put through medical experiments like vaccine trials.

SOURCE: PEOPLE

https://people.com/22-more-infant-remains-found-at-former-irish-institution-for-unwed-mothers-12024349