An Irish team has started the search for the remains of hundreds of children in a mass grave in western Ireland who allegedly died at a church-run home for unwed mothers from 1925 to 1961.
Many have recognized the circumstances of the children's short lives, the treatment of the mothers at the home, and the decades of secrecy surrounding the deaths as a profound moral stain on the Irish government, as it was responsible for funding the institution, as well as the Catholic Church, which was the one that managed it.
Excavating Children's Remains
Authorities estimate that about half of the kids, who number around 800 in total, lost their lives before their first birthdays. Daniel MacSweeney, who is directing the excavation for the children's remains, said that some of the families are desperately looking for answers.
MacSweeney is responsible for leading the Office of the Director of Authorized Intervention, Tuam, which is an independent organization that was established by the Irish government in 2022 and tasked to recover the remains, according to the New York Times.
The team first used small motorized diggers while specialists kept a keen eye for any signs of human remains. Once the bodies start to appear, MacSweeney said they will continue the work by hand, noting the "complexity of the challenge."
During the first decades of Irish independence, unmarried pregnant women in Ireland were widely considered to be immoral. At a time when the Catholic Church ruled nearly every aspect of daily life, these women were shunned by their communities and disowned by their families, with many of them being sent to such institutions.
Signs of a Mass Grave
The excavation of the children's remains comes more than a decade after amateur historian Catherine Corless first uncovered evidence of the mass grave at the site. That discovery prompted the Irish government to form a commission to investigate the matter in detail, Aljazeera reported.
MacSweeney added that the operation will involve exhumation, analysis, identification if possible, and reinterment of the remains that are found at the site. The team comprises 18 archaeologists, anthropologists, and forensic scientists.
The Bon Secours Sisters, which was responsible for running St. Mary's Mother and Baby Home, issued a statement apologizing for the treatment of the children and their mothers during the time they were alive.
In order to identify the remains, the team will make use of DNA samples collected from more than 80 relatives who were invited to a symbolic event on July 8 to commemorate the start of the excavation, as per the Catholic News Agency.
