796 Babies Buried Under Shelter Home For Unmarried, Pregnant Women
In Ireland's small town of Tuam, County Galway, authorities will soon start excavating a site believed to be the burial ground of nearly 800 babies and children. A team of investigators has initiated a forensic probe this week.
According to Catherine Corless, a local historian, 798 children died at the Bon Secours Mother and Baby Home between 1925 and 1961, but only two were buried in a proper cemetery. The other 796 children are believed to have been dumped in a septic tank, known as the pit, The NY Post reported.
Bon Secours Mother and Baby Home, also know as The Home, now a modern apartment complex, was demolished in 1971.
The unmarried pregnant women were sent to Bon Secours Home to give birth. The Home was run by a group of Catholic nuns who used to take care of both the children and the mothers.
After the babies were born, they were taken away from their mothers and handed over to the nuns without the consent of their families. However, the mothers were forced to stay there for a year to do unpaid work.
At Bon Secours, the women who became pregnant again were often sent to Magdalene laundries. This institution held women who were tricked or forced into sexual activities, victims of rape or incest, orphaned girls and those abandoned or abused by their families.
The tragedy at Bon Secours was uncovered after Ms Corless's findings in 2014. However, the excavation at the site could only begin after the Irish government passed a new law in 2022 allowing it to officially dig the site and search for the remains of the children.
Annette McKay, whose sister is thought to be among the 798 victims, told Sky News, "I don't care if it's a thimbleful, as they tell me there wouldn't be many remains left; at six months old, it's mainly cartilage more than bone."
The excavation may take up to two years to identify the remains of the infants and rebury them in a dignified manner.
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