Baby bodies in septic tank: Archbishop of Dublin calls for full inquiry into deaths of 796 children at Catholic home

By Philip Williams
ABC News (Australia)
June 9, 2014

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-06-09/dublin-archbishop-calls-for-inquiry-into-tuam-babies/5509080

The site of a mass grave at the St Mary's home in County Galway.

The Archbishop of Dublin has called for a full inquiry into the deaths of almost 800 children at a home for unmarried mothers and their children.

Death records suggest 796 children - from newborns to eight-year-olds - were dumped in a septic tank near a Catholic-run home for unmarried mothers, turning it into a mass grave.

The St Mary's home at Tuam in County Galway, run by the Bon Secours Sisters, was one of several "mother and baby" homes in early 20th century Ireland.

The search has started for the bodies on the site, with ground sensor equipment used to look for the disused septic tank.

Archbishop Diarmuid Martin says a full inquiry is needed, adding it should be widened to include other church-run mother and baby homes across Ireland.

"The indications are that if something happened in Tuam, it probably happened in other mother and baby homes around the country," Dr Martin told RTÉ radio.

There are also reports a drug company used residents at the home for unspecified medical experiments.

"We have to look at the whole culture of mother baby homes," Dr Martin said.

"They're very complicated and very sensitive issues, but the only way we will come out of this particular period of our history is when the truth comes out."

Thousands of unmarried pregnant women - labelled "fallen women" at the time - were sent to the homes to have their babies.

The women were ostracised by the conservative Catholic society and were often forced to hand over their children for adoption.

Health issues and problems associated with the homes have long been documented. As far back as 1944, a government inspection report of the Tuam home described some of the children as "fragile, pot-bellied and emaciated".

The recently discovered death records for St Mary's show 796 children died from malnutrition and infectious diseases, such as measles and tuberculosis.

Conservative Catholic teaching at the time denied children of unmarried parents baptism and therefore burial in consecrated land.

The home was knocked down many years ago to make way for new houses, but the area around the unmarked mass grave has been maintained by locals.