MASS BABY GRAVE FOUND
Hundreds of remains dumped in septic tank at Church-run hellhole
SKELETAL remains of hundreds of children have been uncovered at a mother and baby home, it emerged yesterday.
The infants ranged in age from three years old to stillborn babies and were dumped in a septic tank at the former Church-run facility in Tuam, Co Galway. The horrific revelations emerged after research by historian Catherine Corless in 2014 and were confirmed by a commission probing the burial of 800 corpses. Children’s Minister Katherine Zappone said: “Up to now we had rumours. Now we have confirmation.”
THE woman who exposed the sickening Tuam mass baby grave revealed yesterday she was told: “Just leave them there.”
The results of recent digs confirmed yesterday hundreds of infants were discarded in the septic tank of a former mother and baby home. Historian Catherine Corless, 62, who drove the campaign for justice for nearly 800 dead tots, said she was told to ignore their plight. She said when she started her research it was “nicely covered in and forgotten about”. Mrs Corless added: “I was asked, ‘What are you doing? It’s a long time ago. If there’s bodies there just leave them’.” And yesterday as her search for the truth was vindicated by the Mother and Baby Homes Commission, she said the entire area around the home – run by the Bon Secours nuns – now needs to be fully excavated. Mrs Corless obtained death certificates for 798 of the missing children.
DISCOVERED
She then discovered none were buried in any local cemeteries and her research was made public in 2014. The Commission was established in February 2015 to investigate alleged abuse between 1922 and 1998. The grim discovery of the human remains happened after a test excavation of the site which began last November. Some of the skeletal remains are now being analysed and the Commission estimated their age of death as 35 foetal weeks (stillborn babies) to two to three years old, their deaths dating back to the 1950s. Mrs Corless spoke out as calls were made to probe the sites of 13 former mother and baby homes around the country. Speaking about the test excavation findings, she said: “It’s a total relief to be honest as this could have gone either way. “It could have been covered up as it was in the 1970s when this investigation should have taken place. “The county council knew at the time that there were remains there, the guards knew it, the religious [orders] knew it and it was just all nicely covered in and forgotten about. “I mean to say how could you just leave them there? The main Tuam graveyard is quite near this area and why would those ‘illegitimate’ babies and children just be discarded, because that’s what they were, literally discarded. “I do believe that graveyard extends above ground as well, because it is known from locals there were burials over ground as well in coffins and there’s a green area there, a playground, which may be over some of the burials in coffins. So the whole area needs to be investigated. It wouldn’t be as big as a football pitch but it’s near enough to it.” Mrs Corless, whose own mother was raised in one of the appalling facilities, said: “My research revealed this [burial area] was a septic tank for the women. “It became defunct in the 1930s when the mother and baby home was joined up with the main sewerage system. And then we came across the death certs of 796 babies and children. “The next step then was to see were they buried in their mothers’ or grandparents’ graveyard. That proved And the question was the 798 babies, children missing, where are they? The obvious answer became apparent, that they must have been buried within the [surroundings] of the mother and baby home in Tuam. Everything pointed to this area being a mass grave.” Children’s Minister Katherine Zappone yesterday described the discov-negative.
ery as “sad and disturbing”. She said: “Up to now we had rumours. Now we have confirmation that the remains are there, and they date back to the time of the Mother and Baby Home. The Commission investigating the treatment of unmarried mothers and babies from 1922 to 1998, said it was “shocked” by what they uncovered. It said test trenches were dug revealing two large structures, one of which appeared to be a “large sewage containment system or septic tank”. The human remains were found in the second “long structure” and disturbingly human remains were found in 17 of the 20 underground chambers contained in that structure. A spokesman for the Mother and Baby Homes Commission said: “We are shocked by this discovery and are continuing the investigation into who was responsible for the disposal of human remains in this way. “Meanwhile, the Commission has asked that the relevant State authorities take responsibility for the appropriate treatment of the remains. The Coroner has been informed. “A small number of remains were recovered for the purpose of analysis. “These remains involved a number of individuals with age-at-death ranges from approximately 35 foetal weeks to two to three years. “Further scientific tests are being conducted.”
WHEN Catherine Corless first exposed the devastating mass baby grave at Tuam, she was told, “Just leave them there”.
After all, these infants died years ago. Why would you want to go dragging up something that should by all rights destroy any remaining reputation of the Catholic Church? When the story broke in 2014, the media were given a similar line, slammed for everything from inaccurate reporting to repeating an old story, and firmly told the septic tank claim was a myth. “Nothing to see here” was the reaction to news of a burial plot for 800 tiny lives, swept up and consigned to the dustbin of history. But the days of conning the people about revelations like these have passed. So often have we been told there’s “nothing to see here”, the mere whisper of those words mean we daren’t look away. Ireland’s treatment of women and children must surely rank with the worst in the world, and those who think times have changed are living in a green-tinted fantasy. When the Tuam story first broke two years ago, Ireland did all she could to convince herself the horror wasn’t real. Not in little old Ireland, land of a hundred thousand welcomes. But there can be no more denial. If we don’t confront our disgusting past, there will be no light in our future.