She uncovered the truth about 796 children buried in secret. Now, Ireland is finally ready to dig

Credit : Niall Carson/PA Wire

NEED TO KNOW

Catherine Corless uncovered death records for 796 children at the Bon Secours Mother and Baby Home in Tuam, County Galway, Ireland
In 2017, test excavations confirmed child remains buried in a former septic tank on the property
A full excavation of the property began this month after years of official delay

They called her obsessive, even delusional — but beneath the grassy ruins of a defunct, church-run home for unwed mothers in Ireland, nearly 800 tiny bodies laid forgotten. This week, the exhumation begins.

Catherine Corless, a local historian in Tuam, County Galway, spent years combing through death certificates and church records from the former Bon Secours Mother and Baby Home.

In May 2014, she published those findings in the Irish Mail, revealing that 796 children had died at the home between 1925 and 1961 — and that only two were listed in official burial records.

Her work raised a chilling question: had hundreds of babies been buried in unmarked graves on the property?

According to official death records cited by Corless, the most frequently cited causes of death were respiratory infections and gastroenteritis, alongside conditions like prematurity, convulsions, whooping cough, tuberculosis, meningitis and diphtheria — only a small number were attributed to causes like malnutrition.

Catherine Corless poses on the site of the former St Mary’s Mother and Baby Home, in Tuam, believed to be containing a mass grave of children.PAUL FAITH/AFP via Getty

The issue wasn’t how the children died, but that their bodies were never properly recorded, buried or acknowledged.

In 2017, following intense public scrutiny and Corless’ dogged advocacy, a government-ordered test excavation confirmed her suspicions: the children’s remains had been buried beneath the property in what was once a septic tank.

The Bon Secours home was one of many such institutions in Ireland where unmarried pregnant women were sent to give birth in secret. Many were forced into unpaid labor, and their children often died from neglect, disease or malnutrition. Those who lived were frequently adopted out, sometimes illegally.

In Tuam, the remains later confirmed by forensic analysis belonged to infants and toddlers ranging from around 35 weeks gestation to three years old, The Irish Times reported.

Corless’ findings were initially met with disbelief — not only by the Catholic Church, but also by politicians and members of the public.

PAUL FAITH/AFP via Getty

The historian told the outlet that people would cross roads to avoid her, and stop her and her relatives in the supermarket, complaining that she was “giving Tuam a bad name” — that she “shouldn’t be doing that… it’s wrong, leave them there, it’s terrible.”

In the press, some headlines cast doubt on the number of bodies involved, while outlets like The Guardian and Reuters minimized Corless’ meticulous documentation, calling her an “amateur historian.”

Just this Sunday, Corless told the Times, a man in the U.S. sent her a excoriating email:

“You’re about as credible as Santa Claus. You’re a disgrace,” the man wrote. “I hope those nuns bring you to court.”

Corless self-funded the research, according to the Mother and Baby Homes Commission of Investigation report, and quietly worked alone, driven by what she described as a need to “do the right thing,” according to The Irish Times.

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

PAUL FAITH/AFP via Getty

Over time, her work gained international attention and ultimately led to a state inquiry and formal government apology in 2021.

On Monday, Irish officials began securing the site in advance of a full-scale excavation expected to last up to two years. The goal is to identify remains where possible and offer families a chance to finally lay their relatives to rest.

Corless, now 69, told the Times she is “so relieved” to see the work begin.

“It’s just beginning to dawn on me now,” Corless told The Irish Times. “It has taken awhile to sink in.”

Siobhán Holliman, editor of the local Tuam Herald newspaper, told the Times that locals were resistant to Corless’ findings because they felt they were being “blamed for something they had nothing to do with.”

“Once people realized the extent of it, how many babies and infants died there, how many remains are up there – it’s not a situation that can just be left,” he said. “It’s part of the town’s history; you can’t ignore history.”