Ireland begins exhumation of a mass grave containing the remains of 796 babies in Tuam

Tuam (County Galway), Ireland – With the participation of an international team of forensic experts, archaeologists, and scientists, exhumation work began on Monday, July 14, 2025, at the former site of St Mary’s Mother and Baby Home, which was run by the Bon Secours Sisters between 1925 and 1961. The objective is to recover, identify, and provide a dignified burial for the remains of approximately 796 deceased babies and children, many of whom were buried in a former septic tank with no proper records.

The project, overseen by the Office of the Director of Authorised Intervention (ODAIT), will span two years and will combine advanced forensic methods, including DNA analysis, in an effort to identify the remains and return them to their families.

“These children were denied all dignity in life and in death,” said Anna Corrigan, who hopes to find her brothers among those buried there.

Local historian Catherine Corless, whose work between 2012 and 2014 uncovered death certificates without burial records, described the start of the excavation as “a long-awaited historical correction” after more than a decade of investigation and public pressure.

International experts from Colombia, Spain, the United Kingdom, Canada, the United States, and Australia will work under strict security and forensic control measures. The presence of residential housing built over parts of the former institution’s grounds adds complexity to the process.

This effort marks an important step in the official acknowledgment of abuses that occurred in the “Mother and Baby Homes” and serves as a symbolic act of reparation for the victims and their families. In 2021, a government report revealed that approximately 9,000 child deaths occurred across 18 of these institutions throughout the 20th century.