International experts join mass grave excavation at mother and baby home

An international team of experts have joined Irish specialists ahead of an excavation of a mass grave at the site of a notorious former mother and baby home in the west of Ireland.

Personnel from Colombia, Spain, the UK, Canada and the US have joined the Office of the Director of Authorised Intervention (ODAIT) team in Tuam, Co Galway as pre-excavation work continues.

The full-scale excavation of the site will try to identify the remains of infants who died at the home between 1925 and 1961.

In 2014, research led by local historian Catherine Corless indicated that 796 babies and young children were buried in a sewage system at the Co Galway institution across that time period.

The St Mary’s home for unmarried mothers and their children was run by the Bon Secours Sisters, a religious order of Catholic nuns.

In 2021, Irish premier Micheal Martin delivered an apology on behalf of the state for the treatment of women and children who were housed in mother and baby homes across Ireland.

The Bon Secours Sisters also offered a “profound apology” after acknowledging the order had “failed to protect the inherent dignity” of women and children in the Tuam home.

The work at the burial site, which is being undertaken by the ODAIT, will involve exhumation, analysis, identification if possible, and re-interment of the remains at the site.

A 2.4-metre-high hoarding has been installed around the perimeter.

The site is subject to security monitoring on a 24-hour basis to ensure the forensic integrity of the site during the excavation.

The excavation is expected to begin next week and is anticipated to last two years.

Speaking as part of a media briefing at the site on Monday, ODAIT leader Daniel McSweeney said: “We have reached an important new stage of this unique and incredibly complex excavation. It’s three weeks since we took control of the site and significant progress has been made since then.

“We have recruited essential expert staff to the team, preparation work at the site is ongoing to safeguard the integrity of the site and the sensitive nature of the work.”

The ODAIT will host a “Family and Survivors Day” on Tuesday, which Mr McSweeney described as “the most important event of the week”.

This event, which is closed to the media, will encompass a visit to the site and a meeting to “keep them informed about the work that has taken place so far and about what will be taking place next”.

He added: “We continue to work closely with the residents living close to the site to ensure minimum disruption is caused to them by the works.”