TUAM, Ireland — Irish authorities have commenced excavation at the site of a former Catholic-run institution in Tuam, County Galway, where the remains of nearly 800 infants are believed to be buried in unmarked graves.
The site was previously home to the Bon Secours Mother and Baby Home, operated by a religious order of nuns between 1925 and 1961.
The excavation, which began this week, marks a significant step in addressing one of Ireland’s darkest chapters in its history of institutional care for unmarried mothers and their children.
Officials say the recovery and identification process is expected to take up to two years.
The investigation into the Tuam site was sparked in 2014 by local historian Catherine Corless, who uncovered death certificates for 798 children associated with the home—but only one documented burial.
Her findings led to public outrage and a government inquiry into widespread abuses within Ireland’s network of state-sanctioned institutions.
“It’s believed that most of the children were interred in a disused septic tank,” Corless told Sky News.
“This was no place for a child. It is appalling.”
The burial site is now located beneath what is part of a modern apartment complex.
The Bon Secours facility was one of many institutions where unmarried pregnant women—often victims of rape or sexual abuse—were confined, forced to work without pay, and pressured to surrender their babies.
Many of the children died from preventable conditions, such as gastroenteritis and respiratory infections.
Among the grieving families is Annette McKay, whose sister, Mary Margaret, is believed to be one of the infants buried at the site.
Her mother, Margaret “Maggie” O’Connor, gave birth to the child after being raped at age 17.
McKay recounted how her mother learned of the baby’s death.
“She was pegging washing out and a nun came up behind her and said ‘the child of your sin is dead,’” McKay told Sky News from her home in the UK.
The Bon Secours home was part of a broader network of so-called “Mother and Baby Homes” and “Magdalene Laundries”—religious-run institutions where women deemed “fallen” were confined and often subjected to harsh conditions.
Originally designated for sex workers, these institutions later housed rape victims, incest survivors, and girls abandoned by their families.
Though the Bon Secours home closed in 1961, the last Magdalene laundry did not shut its doors until the 1990s.
A state inquiry in 2021 revealed that nearly 9,000 children died in 18 such institutions across Ireland, most from illnesses that would have been treatable under normal medical care.
In 2014, the Irish government issued a formal apology to survivors, and by 2022 had launched a compensation scheme which has since disbursed more than $32 million to over 800 individuals.
Speaking on the current excavation efforts, Annette McKay emphasised that even the smallest recovery matters.
“I don’t care if it’s a thimbleful, as they tell me there wouldn’t be much remains left; at six months old, it’s mainly cartilage more than bone.”
