Further eight sets of infant remains recovered at Tuam
By Cillian Sherlock, Press Association
An additional eight sets of infant remains have been recovered during a forensic excavation at the site of a former mother and baby home in Co Galway.
All the remains were buried in coffins.
The total number of sets of infant remains uncovered by the Office of the Director of Authorised Intervention Tuam (ODAIT) since it began work at the site in July is now 77.
The excavation of the site of St Mary’s mother and baby home in Tuam is attempting to identify the remains of infants who died at the home between 1925 and 1961.
The remains were found in part of the area labelled as “burial ground” in historical documents referenced by the Mother and Baby Homes Commission of Investigation.
In 2014, research led by local historian Catherine Corless indicated 796 babies and young children were buried in a sewage system at the Co Galway institution across that time period.
ODAIT said excavation of the layers beneath where the infant remains were found has “revealed anomalies consistent with earlier historic burials”.
It said these earlier historic burials are similar to those it previously reported that expert osteoarchaeologists had confirmed seven sets of historic, skeletal human remains were consistent with the Workhouse era (1841 to 1918) of the site.
ODAIT said it has found evidence of additional potential graves of child or infant size at the site.
In the course of its excavations, ODAIT has also recovered some separate or “disarticulated” bones, not found associated with burials already recovered.
These include human adult and infant bones, but it is not possible to confirm if these bones form part of remains from the institutional era or workhouse era until ODAIT completes the excavation and conducts its forensic analysis.
Meanwhile, ODAIT’s identification programme team collected an additional 22 samples during this period, which have been delivered to Forensic Science Ireland, bringing the total to 55.
Team members have travelled to the US, UK and Canada to meet families and collect samples.
