The entire burial site of the Tuam babies will be forensically sealed off and monitored around the clock, as specialist teams prepare for Ireland’s first exhumation of a mass grave next month.
In an email sent Friday evening to the Tuam Babies Family Group, which includes many relatives of those buried at the site, the Director of the Intervention said his team is “still on track to begin the excavation of the site in the second half of June” — although a start date has not yet been confirmed.
Daniel MacSweeney who was appointed to oversee the exhumation two years ago, explained that “Once works start, the entire site will be forensically sealed. We will erect 2.4-meter hoarding and put in place 24-hour security monitoring”.
He continued “It is expected that the works on the site may take up to 24 months to complete.
“During this time, the Memorial Garden will not be accessible. If you would like to visit the Memorial Garden, you should try to do so before mid-June.”
The exhumation follows 11 years of public pressure after local historian Catherine Corless uncovered the names of 796 children believed to be buried on the grounds of the former mother and baby home.
The institution, which primarily housed unmarried mothers, was run by the Bons Secours nuns on behalf of Galway County Council.
It operated between 1925 and 1961. After the nuns sold the land and left Tuam, the children who died there were left buried on the property.
A test excavation carried out in October 2016 and January 2017 revealed a “significant quantity of human remains” — belonging to babies aged between 35 foetal weeks and 2 to 3 years.
The remains were found dumped in 18 of 20 chambers of a disused sewage tank. This discovery sparked international outrage and was reported across major global news outlets.
The intervention has come after more than a decade of campaigning from families of children who died there as well as Ms Corless.
Mr MacSweeney told families and survivors: “I am writing to update you, the people most impacted by the former Mother and Baby institution in Tuam, about the intervention.”
He said this is “the first step towards restoring dignity in death to those inappropriately buried at the site. We will confirm the exact date very soon.”
Family members of the children who died in Tuam as well as survivors will be invited to the first perimeter of the forensically sealed site on July 8.
Mr MacSweeney explained that “additional dates will be added if needs be.”
A family liaison officer, Paula Kennedy has been appointed to support families with details for the visits.
He continued: “I also want to let you know that we have begun further engagement with the Tuam Community and in particular the residents near the estate adjoining the Memorial Garden.
“We will host an information evening on 6th June. Most residents have received further information relating to the site works and the Information Evening.”
Anna Corrigan, who was at the heart of the original exposure of the Tuam babies’ burial scandal alongside Catherine Corless, said: “It is almost surreal that this is happening. It is a day we thought would never arrive — and now it’s happening next month.
“It is a small light at the end of the tunnel, I hope we find all of the children and that the mothers and my own mother included, Bridget Dolan, will be given some form of justice for what was perpetrated on them and the children will have some dignity in death.
“We still have to wait to see what is uncovered and how many children will be found, how many will be identified, or will we be left with lingering questions when this is all over.”
Further information can be found on www.odait.ie.
