Human remains have been found at the site of former mother and baby home in Tuam, Co Galway.
They are believed to date from the time when the location was a workhouse, predating the period when mothers and children were incarcerated.
In a statement on Friday, the Office of the Director of Authorised Intervention Tuam (ODAIT) said five sets “of historic, skeletal human remains consistent with the Workhouse era (1841 to 1918)” had been recovered from an area at the site.
Further human remains have been found which have not been as fully investigated, with forensic excavation continuing, it said.
RM Block
“In accordance with agreed provisions, ODAIT is co-operating with the National Museum of Ireland, the authority with responsibility for historic human remains. These human remains are currently undergoing analysis by ODAIT and more information will be shared once this analysis has progressed.”
Forensic excavation at the site has focused on three locations in its latest reporting period from August 24th to September 24th.
These are the site of a former workhouse yard; an area adjacent to a high, stone boundary wall at the eastern side of the site; and an area where workhouse plans indicated a possible subterranean vaulted structure.
Materials have been recovered from four main eras when there was human activity at the site. These include the post-institutional phase from 1961 on; the institutional phase – when there was a mother and baby home from 1925 to 1961; a military phase, from 1918 to 1925; and a workhouse phase, from 1841 to 1918.
Objects from each of these periods were identified and recovered, as well as objects from earlier ancient and unrelated dates, highlighting the “complexity of the site”, said the ODAIT.
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Numerous objects uncovered during the operation include personal and medical items dating from the institutional era, pottery, shoes, spectacles and glass baby bottle feeders.
Excavation at the site, which began in mid-July, has involved the painstaking removal of earth, at times by hand, the recovery of items, photographing and cataloguing. Where human remains are found, to ensure their respectful reburial family are notified where possible.
The operation is likely to continue for at least two years.
It is thought the remains of hundreds of babies and children born in the institution, which was run by the Bon Secours nuns, may be buried there. The revelation, by local historian Catherine Corless, brought global attention to the site.
In 2017 preliminary site investigations found significant quantities of human remains in underground chambers.
