{"id":7909,"date":"2025-06-18T09:13:04","date_gmt":"2025-06-18T09:13:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/inhealthyzone.com\/?p=7909"},"modified":"2025-06-18T09:13:04","modified_gmt":"2025-06-18T09:13:04","slug":"796-dead-babies-expected-to-be-found-hidden-in-septic-tank-at-unwed-mothers-home-run-by-nuns","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/inhealthyzone.com\/?p=7909","title":{"rendered":"796 dead babies expected to be found hidden in septic tank at unwed mothers\u2019 home run by nuns"},"content":{"rendered":"

NY POST\/ <\/em><\/strong>Excavation has begun on a septic tank at a site in Ireland that authorities believe contains the remains of nearly 800 dead babies and children who died at a home for unwed mothers run by Catholic nuns.<\/p>\n

Many of the infant remains are feared to have been dumped in the cesspool known as \u201cthe pit\u201d at the former institution in the small town of Tuam, County Galway, local historian Catherine Corless told Sky News.<\/p>\n

In total, 798 children died at the home between 1925 and its closure in 1961, of which just two were buried in a nearby cemetery, Corless\u2019 research found.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Beneath the ground at this peaceful spot in the town of Tuam, significant quantities of human remains have been identified.
Getty Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"
The land, attached to a home run by nuns between 1925 and 1961, was left largely untouched after the institution was knocked down in 1972.
AFP via Getty Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The other 796 children\u2019s remains are believed to be under the site of the Bon Secours Mother and Baby Home, which was demolished in 1971 and is now surrounded by a modern apartment complex.<\/p>\n

Bon Secours, known locally as The Home, was a maternity home for unmarried mothers and their children, run by a religious order of Catholic nuns.<\/p>\n

Unmarried pregnant women would be sent to the home to give birth and would be interned for a year to do unpaid work.<\/p>\n

They were separated from their newborn children, who would be raised by the nuns until they were adopted, often without the consent of their families.<\/p>\n

The full scale of the tragedy at Bon Secours was only uncovered in 2014 thanks to Corless\u2019s findings.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Her research pointed to the children\u2019s likely final resting place: a disused septic tank discovered in 1975.
REUTERS<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"
Excavation crews will seal off the site before beginning the search for remains next month.
Getty Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"
It was only in 2022 that legislation was passed in Parliament enabling the excavation work to start at Tuam.
Getty Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Now, finally, more than a decade on, a team of investigators began their forensic investigation this week.<\/p>\n

It is expected to take up to two years to identify the remains of the infants and give them a dignified reburial and offer some degree of closure to survivors.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t care if it\u2019s a thimbleful, as they tell me there wouldn\u2019t be much remains left; at six months old, it\u2019s mainly cartilage more than bone,\u201d Annette McKay, whose sister is believed to be one of the 798 victims, told Sky News.<\/p>\n

\"\"
After giving birth at the homes, mothers were then separated from their children, often through adoption.
AFP via Getty Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Her mother, Margaret \u201cMaggie\u201d O\u2019Connor gave birth to a baby, Mary Margaret, at the home after she was raped at the age of 17.<\/p>\n

The girl died six months later, and her mother only found out when a nun told her.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe was pegging washing out and a nun came up behind her and said \u2018the child of your sin is dead,’\u201d said Annette, who now lives in the UK.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

NY POST\/ Excavation has begun on a septic tank at a site in Ireland that authorities believe contains the remains of nearly 800 dead babies and children who died at a home for unwed mothers run by Catholic nuns. Many of the infant remains are feared to have been dumped in the cesspool known as […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7911,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7909","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-latest-articles"],"blocksy_meta":[],"yoast_head":"\n796 dead babies expected to be found hidden in septic tank at unwed mothers\u2019 home run by nuns -<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/inhealthyzone.com\/?p=7909\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"796 dead babies expected to be found hidden in septic tank at unwed mothers\u2019 home run by nuns -\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"NY POST\/ Excavation has begun on a septic tank at a site in Ireland that authorities believe contains the remains of nearly 800 dead babies and children who died at a home for unwed mothers run by Catholic nuns. 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