Uploaded June 2026 | Updated September 2026, 1 hour ago
Why were around 796 babies secretly buried in or near the septic tank of an Irish mothers and babies’ home in Tuam, how was their final resting place revealed and what is being done about the shameful treatment of these unwanted children by the nuns of the order of Bon Secours aided and abetted by the Irish government?
Today on History Calling we look at the story of nearly 800 children born to unwed mothers in 20th century Ireland, who were usually taken from their parent (often against her will) and ultimately died as infants between 1925 and 1961. They lived and died in the St Mary’s mother and baby home in Tuam, County Galway, but while death certificates were issued for them, when local historian Catherine Corless went looking for their graves in the 2010s, she found no burial records. Only then did the horror of what the nuns at the home had done, become apparent. Rather than give the children dignified interments, with proper documentation, they had generally wrapped them in cloth and stacked them in a disused septic tank on the property. Local people had stumbled across the mass grave of the babies numerous times over the years, but the story had been kept quiet (likely due to fear of the all powerful Catholic Church at the time) and it was not until Corless went public with her findings that something was finally done.
The grave is now being excavated to discover the true extent of the mismanagement of the children’s remains and compensation is being sought from the Order and from the government, which sanctioned the appalling conditions in these homes and overlooked the high infant mortality rates in them for decades, all the while saying that the shame of this situation lay with the unwed mothers (never the fathers), whilst not taking any responsibility for their own despicable actions against these women and their defenceless children.
This is the tale of how one of Ireland’s greatest shames is finally being reckoned with.
#MotherAndBabyHomes #CatherineCorless #TuamMotherAndBabyHome
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YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE:
IRISH HISTORY PLAYLIST
youtube.com/playlist?list=PLLSjVq5Qtb0GjspE4jrKrz88qiZkAK2fS
WHERE WERE ROYAL BABIES BURIED?
youtu.be/G5KINP-O-vE
LEARN MORE/SOME SOURCES:
[FREE] 'I have to have hope,' says Tuam relative as excavation works begin
youtube.com/watch?v=4qcM6lqrdFk
[FREE] 'Worse than murder': Ireland's dark history of criminalisation and diabolisation of unwed mothers
youtube.com/watch?v=B7em6aB4aeI
[FREE] Tuam and Ireland's shame: unedited interview with Catherin[e] Corless
youtube.com/watch?v=Jw4UKfZqTzw
[FREE] Ireland: The forgotten Angels of Tuam
youtube.com/watch?v=gb_W87Ix5J8
[FREE] Ireland's Mother and Baby Scandal (Part 1) | People and Power
youtube.com/watch?v=F65Mc3oBylk
[FREE] Ireland's Mother and Baby Scandal (Part 2) | People and Power
youtube.com/watch?v=Zq__aXARjEs
[FREE] Alison O’Reilly, ‘A MASS GRAVE OF 800 BABIES’ in The Irish Mail on Sunday (25 May 2014) web.archive.org/web/20140712060821/http://www.abc.net.au/mediawatch/transcripts/1422_irishmailtuam.pdf
Executive summary of the Final Report of the Commission of Investigation into Mother and Baby Homes (2021)
https://assets.gov.ie/static/documents/executive-summary-of-the-final-report-of-the-commission-of-investigation-into-mother-a.pdf
Mother and Baby Homes (including pre-1948 Workhouses) and Magdalene Laundries
quote.qub.ac.uk/mother-and-baby-homes-and-magdalene-laundries-oral-history-project
Publication of Research Report on Mother and Baby Homes and Magdalene Laundries in Northern Ireland
health-ni.gov.uk/articles/publication-research-report-mother-and-baby-homes-and-magdalene-laundries-northern-ireland
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NB: Links above may be affiliate links. This means if you make a purchase through one of these links, I earn a small commission. It in no way affects the price you pay.
Thumbnail: Wikimedia Commons, AugusteBlanqui, CC BY-SA 4.0
Open Street Map copyright information
openstreetmap.org/copyright
Creative Commons licenses used see creativecommons.org/licenses
Please note that all my audios are read by a real human only (that’s me!) and no AI is used unless otherwise stated.
Why were around 796 babies secretly buried in or near the septic tank of an Irish mothers and babies’ home in Tuam, how was their final resting place revealed and what is being done about the shameful treatment of these unwanted children by the nuns of the order of Bon Secours aided and abetted by the Irish government?
Today on History Calling we look at the story of nearly 800 children born to unwed mothers in 20th century Ireland, who were usually taken from their parent (often against her will) and ultimately died as infants between 1925 and 1961. They lived and died in the St Mary’s mother and baby home in Tuam, County Galway, but while death certificates were issued for them, when local historian Catherine Corless went looking for their graves in the 2010s, she found no burial records. Only then did the horror of what the nuns at the home had done, become apparent. Rather than give the children dignified interments, with proper documentation, they had generally wrapped them in cloth and stacked them in a disused septic tank on the property. Local people had stumbled across the mass grave of the babies numerous times over the years, but the story had been kept quiet (likely due to fear of the all powerful Catholic Church at the time) and it was not until Corless went public with her findings that something was finally done.
The grave is now being excavated to discover the true extent of the mismanagement of the children’s remains and compensation is being sought from the Order and from the government, which sanctioned the appalling conditions in these homes and overlooked the high infant mortality rates in them for decades, all the while saying that the shame of this situation lay with the unwed mothers (never the fathers), whilst not taking any responsibility for their own despicable actions against these women and their defenceless children.
This is the tale of how one of Ireland’s greatest shames is finally being reckoned with.
#MotherAndBabyHomes #CatherineCorless #TuamMotherAndBabyHome
BUY MY BOOK (Find Your Irish Ancestors Online): amzn.to/3Z2ChnG
Join my mailing list (with 2 FREE DOWNLOADS): historycallingofficial.com
Patreon: patreon.com/historycalling
Amazon storefront: amazon.com/shop/historycalling
Instagram: instagram.com/historycalling
YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE:
IRISH HISTORY PLAYLIST
youtube.com/playlist?list=PLLSjVq5Qtb0GjspE4jrKrz88qiZkAK2fS
WHERE WERE ROYAL BABIES BURIED?
youtu.be/G5KINP-O-vE
LEARN MORE/SOME SOURCES:
[FREE] 'I have to have hope,' says Tuam relative as excavation works begin
youtube.com/watch?v=4qcM6lqrdFk
[FREE] 'Worse than murder': Ireland's dark history of criminalisation and diabolisation of unwed mothers
youtube.com/watch?v=B7em6aB4aeI
[FREE] Tuam and Ireland's shame: unedited interview with Catherin[e] Corless
youtube.com/watch?v=Jw4UKfZqTzw
[FREE] Ireland: The forgotten Angels of Tuam
youtube.com/watch?v=gb_W87Ix5J8
[FREE] Ireland's Mother and Baby Scandal (Part 1) | People and Power
youtube.com/watch?v=F65Mc3oBylk
[FREE] Ireland's Mother and Baby Scandal (Part 2) | People and Power
youtube.com/watch?v=Zq__aXARjEs
[FREE] Alison O’Reilly, ‘A MASS GRAVE OF 800 BABIES’ in The Irish Mail on Sunday (25 May 2014) web.archive.org/web/20140712060821/http://www.abc.net.au/mediawatch/transcripts/1422_irishmailtuam.pdf
Executive summary of the Final Report of the Commission of Investigation into Mother and Baby Homes (2021)
https://assets.gov.ie/static/documents/executive-summary-of-the-final-report-of-the-commission-of-investigation-into-mother-a.pdf
Mother and Baby Homes (including pre-1948 Workhouses) and Magdalene Laundries
quote.qub.ac.uk/mother-and-baby-homes-and-magdalene-laundries-oral-history-project
Publication of Research Report on Mother and Baby Homes and Magdalene Laundries in Northern Ireland
health-ni.gov.uk/articles/publication-research-report-mother-and-baby-homes-and-magdalene-laundries-northern-ireland
GEAR USED
Apple MacBook Pro Laptop (for video editing): amzn.to/3S6IoRK
Blue Yeti Microphone: amzn.to/3FgEDYq
Go-Pro Hero 13 camera: amzn.to/41H4Xnt
GoPro 3-Way 2.0 (Tripod/Grip/Arm): amzn.to/3vaVxjU
Memory Card: amzn.to/3KeLZZs
DJI Drone: amzn.to/39hROZm
NB: Links above may be affiliate links. This means if you make a purchase through one of these links, I earn a small commission. It in no way affects the price you pay.
Thumbnail: Wikimedia Commons, AugusteBlanqui, CC BY-SA 4.0
Open Street Map copyright information
openstreetmap.org/copyright
Creative Commons licenses used see creativecommons.org/licenses
Please note that all my audios are read by a real human only (that’s me!) and no AI is used unless otherwise stated.
