[gatagato]

Mass graves are found in disused sewers at a former Catholic home for unmarried mothers in Ireland following decades of suspicion that hundreds of babies were buried in unmarked sites

• Remains found at Bon Secours Mother and Baby Home in County Galway, Ireland
• There could be as many as 800 dead, ranging from 35 weeks to three years old
• The bodies may have been placed in an old sewer, which was disused in 1937
• In the 1970s, local boys found a pile of bones in an underground chamber

A mass grave containing the remains of babies and young children has been discovered at a former Catholic home for unmarried mothers and their children in Ireland, an official report revealed today.
The remains were found in a disused sewer during excavations at the Bon Secours Mother and Baby Home in Tuam, County Galway.


The ages of the dead ranged from 35 foetal weeks to three years old and were mostly buried in the 1950s.

In a statement today, the Mother and Baby Homes Commission said 'significant quantities of human remains have been discovered in at least 17 of the 20 underground chambers which were examined earlier this year'.
The inquiry was launched after local historian Catherine Corless said there was evidence of an unmarked graveyard at the home, where records showed almost 800 children died between 1925 and 1961.
However, there was a burial record for just one child.


In the mid-1970s, local boys playing in the field had reported seeing a pile of bones in a hidden underground chamber.
Today's announcement dispels a popular argument that bones seen at the site might predate the orphanage's opening, when the building was a workhouse for the adult poor.
Some have even claimed that they were from people who died in the mid-19th century Great Famine.

Ms Corless also revealed that nine mothers died in the home during its existence.
Burial records only existed for four of the women.
It is unknown where Mary Hickey, Mary Joyce, Bridget O'Reilly, Annie Roughneen and Margaret Henry are buried.
Annie and Margaret had children – Annie and James respectively – who also died and are among the 796 children believed to be in the mass grave.
In 2015, the Irish Mail on Sunday were able to tell the family of Kathleen Tully that she was buried in the family plot in Dunmore – but that her name was never carved on the headstone.

Her daughter Catherine, who was born in the Tuam home, came from London to search for her mother.
She visited the family grave but died in 2008 without ever learning that her mother was buried there.
Kathleen Tully gave birth to Catherine in the home but died four months later from septicaemia.

Ireland's Minister for Children and Youth Affairs Katherine Zappone said today's news was 'sad and disturbing', adding that the commission of inquiry would work with local authorities to investigate further and decide what should happen to the remains.
Historian Catherine Corless said: 'Everything pointed to this area being a mass grave.
'All that matters now is the truth is out there. I always knew the children were buried there and now we have the facts.
‘It is such an important story, I’m totally shocked and speechless but I’m happy and it is important now to remember the families of these little angels, their loved ones and how badly they were treated.

A mass grave containing the remains of babies and young children has been discovered at the former Bon Secours Mother and Baby Home in Tuam, County Galway. Pictured today, the covered over field


Excavations found 'significant quantities of human remains' in an underground structure divided into 20 chambers. The children's ages ranged from 35 foetal weeks to three years old


Pictured, the field in 2014, before excavations began. Workmen are seen surveying the ground


Pictured, a plaque erected in memory of the adults and children buried on the site


In the mid-1970s, local boys playing in the field had reported seeing a pile of bones in a hidden underground chamber there. Pictured, the home when it housed women and children


The find also dispels a popular argument that bones seen at the site might predate the orphanage's opening, when the building was a workhouse for the adult poor. Pictured, a group of children at the home in 1924


The Mother and Baby Homes commission is investigating 17 other church-run institutions. Others have claimed that the pile of bones found dated back to the Great Famine in the 19th century


Kathleen Tully (centre) died in the home from scepticaemia four months after giving birth to daughter Catherine


In 2015, the Irish Mail on Sunday told the family of Kathleen Tully that she was buried in the family plot. But daughter Catherine had already died not knowing she had visited Kathleen's resting place in 2008


Catherine's dauther Teresa (pictured left, right) said: 'It is a bittersweet tragedy'. Pictured right, Catherine taking holy communion as a child


Daughter Catherine (centre) stayed at the home until she was five and moved to London to search for her mother. Kathleen had been buried in Catherine's grandparent's graves due to the stigma attached to marriage out of wedlock


In 2014, local historian Catherine Corless found death certificates for nearly 800 children, but a burial record for only one child


The ages of the dead ranged from 35 weeks to three years old and were mostly buried in the 1950s. Pictured, workmen putting up scaffolding before a preliminary excavation in October 2016


A helpline has been set up to support people who are affected by the news. Test excavations took place in October 2016 and took around six weeks to complete (file photo from 2014)


The ages of the dead ranged from 35 weeks to three years old and were mostly buried in the 1950s (file picture from 2014)


Further investigations carried out by Ms Corless reveal that nine mothers died in the home during its existence. But burial records exist for only four of the nine



http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...baby-home.html
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017...ome-unmarried/
http://www.latimes.com/world/la-fg-m...303-story.html

[kellyhound]

Unmarried, in those times and also often in this time, means you don't live your life like the Catholic church wants you to do so they were treated like trash and when you die they dispose you like trash.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church states: "The intimate community of life and love which constitutes the married state has been established by the Creator and endowed by him with its own proper laws. God himself is the author of marriage. The vocation to marriage is written in the very nature of man and woman as they came from the hand of the Creator.

[gatagato]

A couple of years ago, in a small town not far away from where I live, a priest stated something like "Unmarried mothers are not welcome in this church": after someone burned his car, he magically changed his mind. Miracle! God enlightened him!

[Ferocity]

I hope I get to stay unmarried till I'm at least 496 years old
Let's keep the good times rolling

[commondenom]

absolutely disgusting behaviour from a disgusting religious group.....

it's high time religion was fucking outlawed globally

[spudigitti]

So sad and shameful

[Oswald2001]

Well, you know what they say...

[FunkPumpkin]

Unmarried mothers... I think that's the majority around here.

Can't think of anything funny to say, but I don't think you should be a criminal for fucking and wanting to keep it. If you're going to kill the mom, kill the father too make sure they don't propagate further.

[CrunchyCripple]

They've found similar sites at churches that were from nuns conceiving and getting rid of the evidence.

[Irish66]

I was born in a mother & baby home in Roscrea, County Tipperary in '66. Thankfully I can't remember my first 14 months, spent there...