Ireland begins dig at mass grave of 800 babies exposed by historian

After more than a decade of tireless research and ridicule, Catherine Corless—the historian who uncovered the burial site of nearly 800 babies at Tuam, County Galway, beneath a former Irish home for unwed mothers—is finally seeing justice take root.

Excavation crews began work this week at the grounds of the former Bon Secours Mother and Baby Home in Tuam, marking a major turning point in one of Ireland’s darkest historical reckonings.

Long fight, finally acknowledged

In an interview with The Irish Times, Corless reflected on her struggle to bring the truth to light. “It’s just beginning to dawn on me now,” she said. “It has taken a while to sink in.”

Her work first gained national attention in 2014, when she uncovered death certificates for 796 children who died at the Tuam home between the 1920s and 1961—but found only one corresponding burial record. Convinced the children’s remains were still on site, she pushed for answers while facing relentless opposition.

“People would cross the street to avoid me”

The local backlash was immediate and intense, she reportedly told the news outlet. “People would cross the street to avoid me,” Corless told The Irish Times. Strangers harassed her in supermarkets, while others accused her of smearing the town’s name.

“You’re about as credible as Santa Claus. You’re a disgrace,” a man wrote in an email to her just days ago, on June 15. “I hope those nuns bring you to court.”

But on Monday, Corless was vindicated. The fenced-off site where the babies’ bodies were buried—some inside a decommissioned septic tank—is now under forensic control, with a full-scale excavation underway.

Horrific discovery confirmed

In 2017, government investigators confirmed what Corless had long suspected: a mass grave was found beneath the grounds of the home. DNA analysis later revealed the remains belonged to babies and children ranging from 35 weeks gestation to three years old.

The home, run by an order of Catholic nuns until its closure in 1961, was one of many institutions in Ireland where unmarried pregnant women were placed—often forcibly—and their children hidden, mistreated, or adopted without consent.

“All those lovely little children and babies, that’s the one thing that drove me,” Corless told The Irish Times. “That’s all that was in my mind—these babies in a sewage system, they have to come out.”

A national scandal, a personal mission

The broader scandal is staggering: nearly 9,000 children are believed to have died in 18 mother-and-baby homes across Ireland. Most succumbed to illnesses like gastroenteritis, whooping cough, diphtheria, and tuberculosis. But the lack of burial records—particularly in Tuam—points to deep institutional neglect.

In 2021, the Irish government issued a formal apology for the mistreatment of women and children in these homes, acknowledging that “a profound failure of empathy, understanding and basic humanity” had occurred.

What’s next

Daniel MacSweeney, head of the excavation project, said the process is expected to take two years. Families will have the opportunity to view the work as it progresses. Identified remains will be returned to relatives; unidentified remains will be buried respectfully.

“This is not just an excavation,” MacSweeney noted. “It is a national act of recognition and dignity.”

For Corless, that long-overdue dignity is finally beginning to emerge from the soil of Tuam. As she quietly watches the start of the dig she spent years fighting for, her words ring as powerfully now as when she began: “It’s about doing the right thing.”