Ireland: 796 Babies Found in Mass Grave at Former Unwed Mothers’ Convent

A decade after the discovery of a mass grave containing 796 babies at the site of a former religious institution, workers began preparing the area on Monday (June 16, 2025), with the first exhumations scheduled for July. Barricades have been set up around the location to secure it. In 2014, historian Catherine Corless from Ireland revealed that these infants, ranging from newborns to nine-year-olds, died within the Mercy Sisters’ home in Tuam, located 220 kilometers west of Dublin. Her research led to the identification of their burial site, which will be explored starting July 10th: the former septic tank of the convent managed by Catholic nuns. Although the facility for unwed pregnant women and their children was demolished in 1972, replaced by a housing estate, the septic tank remained untouched. Human remains of infants had already been found during initial investigations between 2016 and 2017. The painstaking work of Catherine Corless, which shocked Ireland, prompted the establishment of a national investigative commission into the abuses suffered by mothers and children in these institutions. In its 2021 report, the commission highlighted ‘alarming’ child mortality rates, with 9,000 children dying in such facilities. Overall, 56,000 unmarried women and 57,000 children passed through 18 similar homes in Ireland between 1922 and 1998. Speaking to AFP, the 71-year-old historian said, ‘When I started this work, no one wanted to listen; I begged them: take these babies out of those underground chambers, give them the dignified Christian burial they were denied.’ At the time, unwed pregnant women were confined to these institutions under the encouragement of the Irish state and the powerful Catholic Church, which often jointly managed them. Women gave birth there before being separated from their children, who were frequently given up for adoption. In Tuam, the team aims to find, identify, and provide dignified burials for the human remains unearthed.