Authorities in Ireland have started digging at a site in Tuam, County Galway. They believe almost 800 babies are buried there. These babies died at a home for unmarried mothers run by the Catholic Church.
Sky News reported that the site used to be the Bon Secours Mother and Baby Home. It was run by Catholic nuns from 1925 to 1961. It took in unmarried pregnant women, many of whom had been raped or sexually abused. After giving birth, many of them were forced to give up their babies.
A photo from June 15, 2025, shows a remembrance garden at the site where the home once stood, in Tuam, Ireland.
Historian Catherine Corless uncovered the story in 2014. She found 798 death certificates for children at the home, but only one child had a burial record.
Her findings shocked the country and led to a government investigation into how women and children were treated in these institutions.
Early findings showed that many babies’ remains — some only 35 weeks old — were dumped in an old septic tank. That spot is now part of a modern apartment area.
Corless told Sky News the tank, known as “the pit,” might contain the remains of 796 babies. Most were never buried properly.
This week, workers began the excavation to try to identify the remains and give the babies respectful burials. The process may take up to two years.
Annette McKay, whose sister may be one of the babies buried there, said it doesn’t matter how little is found — she just wants the babies treated with respect. “Even if there’s just a thimbleful,” she told Sky News.
Annette’s mother, Margaret O’Connor, had a baby at the home after being raped at 17. The baby, Mary Margaret, died six months later. A nun told Margaret the baby had died without warning.
Annette said her mother was hanging out laundry when a nun came up behind her and said, “The child of your sin is dead.” Annette now lives in the UK.
The Bon Secours home was part of a larger system in Ireland. Pregnant women were often locked up, made to work without pay, and forced to give up their babies. If they became pregnant again, many were sent to Magdalene Laundries.
.At first, Magdalene Laundries were for sex workers. But over time, they began taking in other women — including those who had been raped, orphaned, or abused.
The last Magdalene Laundry didn’t close until the 1990s.
A government report in 2021 said about 9,000 children died in 18 similar homes. Most deaths were from treatable illnesses like diarrhea and chest infections.
In 2014, the Irish government apologized to survivors. In 2022, it started a payment program. So far, over \$32 million has been paid to more than 800 people.
