Ireland confronts its darkest religious past and begins excavation of a grave containing 800 babies
The objective is to locate, exhume, analyze and identify 796 children who died between 1925 and 1961 in institutions for the punishment of single mothers.
LondonEleven years after local historian Catherine Corless revealed that 796 infants and children died between 1925 and 1961 at the Tuam Mother and Baby Institution in Galway, Ireland, the forensic excavation of the site formally began this Monday. The process, expected to last two years, aims to locate, exhume, analyze, and—if possible—identify the human remains buried at the site, as well as to dignify them with a new burial and a permanent memorial.
The start of the exhumation, which began at 10:30 a.m. under heavy guard, marks a milestone in the long and painful struggle of the survivors and families of the victims. The Office of the Director of Authorized Intervention, led by Daniel MacSweeney, has completely closed off public access with 2.4-meter fences and 24-hour surveillance to ensure the forensic integrity of the site. Last week, family members were able to visit the facility for the last time before its final closure.
The Tuam tragedy is just one more episode in a recurring pattern of institutional abuse in Ireland. For decades, well into the 1990s, the state placed unmarried mothers and their children in institutions run by religious orders, known as "chimneys and babies" or "Magdalene laundries." With financial support from the Irish government, these institutions operated under a model that criminalized out-of-wedlock childbearing in the name of a national Catholic ideal. The babies, considered a blot on society, were victims of neglect and preventable diseases and, according to various studies, subjected to medical experiments and vaccine trials.
Initial excavations in 2016 and 2017 had already revealed a large number of remains in a makeshift mass grave in what appeared to be an old septic tank, located behind a building formerly run by nuns of the Bon Secours order. Only two of the children presumed dead are officially buried in local cemeteries. The rest are believed to have been clandestinely abandoned there.
Several investigations, including the Ryan Commission on child abuse, have documented infant mortality rates as high as 50% in some of these institutions. The Adoption Rights Alliance has called the treatment of the children "inhumane" and notes that many died from infanticide or severe medical neglect.
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Anna Corrigan, who believes two of her brothers, John and William, are among the victims, told the Irish press that the moment is "both welcome and painful." Corrigan demands accountability: "I will not rest until my brothers receive a proper Christian burial, and until justice is served to the fullest extent of the law, both national and international. What happened in Tuam was criminal. Both Church and state must be held accountable."
Despite the magnitude of the scandal, the response from Irish authorities has been lukewarm. The government has dragged its feet, and law enforcement has not launched any in-depth criminal investigations. The Archbishop of Dublin, Diarmuid Martin, has publicly acknowledged the seriousness of the case, but justice has yet to be served. In 2021 the then Taoiseach Micheál Martin issued an official apology to the victims. and the Bon Secours congregation also issued an apology and acknowledged having failed the women and children of Tuam.
As the excavations begin, Ireland is once again staring down a dark past, but survivors and international observers are demanding more than exhumations and memorials: they want truth, criminal accountability, and a dignified reparation. Without a series of measures, the history of Tuam will be buried again.
