A grim chapter of Ireland’s history has resurfaced following revelations that 796 babies and young children are feared to have been buried in a septic tank on the grounds of a former Catholic-run home for unwed mothers in Tuam, County Galway.
The shocking discovery, first brought to light by local historian Catherine Corless, has triggered national and international outrage, forcing a deeper examination of Ireland’s treatment of unwed mothers and their children during the 20th century. Corless’s meticulous research into death records revealed that hundreds of children died at the Bon Secours Mother and Baby Home, yet their burial places were undocumented — until now.
“I couldn’t rest until I found out where they were buried,” said Corless, who paid for the death certificates of each child herself. “When I saw the numbers and realized no graves were recorded, I knew something was terribly wrong.”
The facility, operated by the Bon Secours Sisters, housed unmarried pregnant women and their children from 1925 until 1961. During that time, infants born at the home reportedly died at an alarming rate due to neglect, malnutrition, and disease.
Investigations suggest that many of these children, some just days or weeks old, may have been buried without ceremony or markers in what was once a sewage treatment tank on the property. Locals recall that the area had long been rumored to contain remains, but the scale of the potential mass grave was never confirmed — until Corless’s findings were made public.
A 2017 excavation by a state-appointed Mother and Baby Homes Commission of Investigation confirmed the presence of significant human remains in an underground structure previously used as a septic tank. The remains were dated to the time period during which the home operated.
“The discovery of the remains is deeply disturbing,” said Ireland’s Children’s Minister at the time. “It is clear that a large number of children died and were buried in an unmarked and inappropriate manner.”
Survivors, families of the deceased, and human rights groups have demanded accountability and justice. Many are calling for the Catholic Church to issue a full apology and for the Irish government to ensure proper memorialization, exhumation, and reburial of the remains.
“The truth needs to come out, and the dignity of those children must be restored,” said one survivor whose mother had been sent to Tuam as a teenager.
The Bon Secours Sisters have expressed “deep sorrow,” but critics say the response falls short of acknowledging the full extent of suffering inflicted under their watch.
The case has prompted the Irish government to begin broader investigations into similar institutions across the country, where an estimated 9,000 children died in 18 such homes between the 1920s and 1990s.
As Ireland confronts this dark chapter, pressure continues to mount for transparency, reparations, and a national reckoning with a system that once punished women and children for the circumstances of their birth.
