Church to Meet over Memorial for 800 Babies at Mass Grave

By Brian Mcdonald
Irish Independent
June 2, 2014

http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/church-to-meet-over-memorial-for-800-babies-at-mass-grave-30321303.html

The mass grave in Tuam where up to 800 children are buried. Photo: Andy Newman

THE hierarchy in the Catholic Church is to meet to discuss potentially erecting a memorial at a mass grave of up to 800 children at a former home for unmarried mothers.

The meeting comes as the junior minister for education and skills, Ciaran Cannon, spoke yesterday of the "horrific details" emerging of the discovery in Tuam, Co Galway.

Mr Cannon said an inquiry was needed to determine the facts surrounding the unmarked burial site.

He warned that any investigation would have to be conducted very sensitively, as people who are still alive may have disturbing memories of their own or their family's connections with the institution which was run by the Bon Secours Sisters.

It emerged yesterday that the head of the Bon Secours Sisters in Ireland had sought a meeting with the Archbishop of Tuam, Dr Michael Neary, to discuss how best to respond to the efforts to honour all those who died.

A spokesperson for Dr Neary confirmed that the meeting would take place shortly.

"While this isn't a diocesan matter – it's a matter for the Bon Secours Sisters – we are of course willing to help this cause. There is an excellent committee working locally and to date I think they have raised about ˆ4,000 of the ˆ7,000 they require.

"The Archbishop will be meeting the sisters to discuss the matter of the memorial and also the holding of a memorial service for those who died there. I understand a suitable plaque is planned to contain the names and dates of death of all the 796 children.

"There is nothing in our archives about this. The home closed in 1961 and all the records were handed over to the county council and the health board, I understand," the spokesperson said.

The site was previously known to be a graveyard, locally suspected to be one for unbaptised babies or Famine victims, but it was thought that a small number of children were interred there.

Records

The home was closed in the 1960s but in 1975 two boys were playing close to the site when they discovered partially broken concrete slabs covering a hollow – a disused septic tank, which had been in use prior to the 1920s when the building was a workhouse.