Tragedy in Ireland

Tuam babies: Archbishop Diarmuid Martin calls for inquiry

 

People initially thought the grave was for remains of famine victims

A June 8, 2014 BBC story reports that one of the most senior figures in the Catholic Church in Ireland has said a full inquiry is needed into the deaths of almost 800 children at a convent-run mother and baby home. The remains were found in a disused septic tank in County Galway. The children, one as old as nine, died between 1925 and 1961. The grave in Tuam was initially thought to date to the 1850s when discovered 40 years ago.

Archbishop of Dublin Diarmuid Martin said the truth must come out.

 

Archbishop of Dublin Diarmuid Martin said a full investigation was needed

"The indications are that if something happened in Tuam, it probably happened in other mother and baby homes around the country," Dr Martin told RTÉ radio."That's why I believe we need a full-bodied investigation. There's no point investigating just what happened in Tuam and then next year finding out more. We have to look at the whole culture of mother and baby homes; they're talking about medical experiments there."

He added: "They're very complicated and very sensitive issues, but the only way we will come out of this particular period of our history is when the truth comes out."

 

The home was run by nuns between 1925 and 1961

 

 

The unmarked grave is in the grounds of a home which was run by the Catholic Church

The Irish government has set up an inter-departmental group to look at the case. The home was run by nuns of the Bon Secours Sisters for 36 years. In a statement, Bon Secours said it handed its records to the state after it closed its doors.

The Tuam home was one of 10 institutions in which about 35,000 unmarried pregnant women - so-called fallen women - are thought to have been sent. The children of these women were denied baptism and segregated from others at school. If they died at such facilities, they were also denied a Christian burial. County Galway death records showed that most of the children buried in the unmarked grave had died of sickness or malnutrition.
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Damien's note: Most of the stories I post here have some entertainment value. This is not such a story.

Congregation of the Sisters of Bon Secours is a Roman Catholic religious congregation for nursing, whose stated object is to care for patients from all socio-economic groups. Reflecting their name (bon secours means good help in French), the congregation's motto is "Good Help to Those in Need." 

In 2014, there were widespread media reports that the bodies of 796 children and babies who died of malnutrition, neglect, and disease had been discovered in a former septic tank at the St. Mary's Mother and Baby Home in Tuam, Ireland. The child mortality at the home had averaged four a week and evidenced the discrimination and maltreatment that children of unwed mothers experienced while at the home.

Research by Catherine Corless, a local historian, had established the identities of those who died in the home. She concluded that their bodies had been placed in the mass grave, and she has set up a fund to build a memorial for the site. Bon Secours sisters are said to have donated money for this purpose.

On June 4, 2014 the Irish government announced it was forming a panel of representatives from a number of government departments to investigate the deaths at the home and propose a course of action for the government to take in addressing the issues