‘Today is a small light at the end of a big tunnel’ – excavation works begin at former Tuam mother and baby home
Her two brothers are believed to be two of 796 children buried in a disused sewage tank under the site.Ms Corrigan attended the site on Monday, July 7, as preliminary works for the site’s forensic excavation come to a close. Ground is due to be broken next Monday, with the full works expected to take around two years to complete.A visit for families and survivors to the perimeter of the site to view the works is taking place on Tuesday, July 8.Ms Corrigan said: “We never thought this day would come. I see this day as a small light at the end of a big tunnel.“There are 9,000 children lost in homes in Ireland and that's only the ones that were examined. So Tuam is the tip of the iceberg, and we do hope that every child's voice is heard, because I think they've been crying for a long time."This is the start of something, so we may not get all the answers, we don't know, but it's the next stage.”During her visit, Ms Corrigan also read a letter to her mother, published in the book My Name is Bridget. The letter was a personal account of the difficulties she faced during her search for the truth about her family and the hardship faced by others in similar situations.Anna Corrigan and Alison O'Reilly holding the book 'My Name is Bridget', which documented the story of Anna's mother, Bridget Dolan. Photo: Joseph Murray“These children were denied every human right in their lifetime, as were their mothers. They were denied dignity in life, and they were denied dignity and respect in death.”Ms Corrigan’s brothers, John and William Dolan, died in the home in 1947 and 1951, respectively. She said recovering their remains would bring closure to her family.“If they find that they are there, it's the answer, it's the truth. I can go to my mother's grave, and I can tool ‘predeceased by her sons John and William’. That is the closure, that is the answer, and that is the truth we're looking for.”The full excavation of the former Tuam mother and baby home will commence on Monday, July 14. Photo: Joseph MurrayDaniel MacSweeney, Director of Authorised Intervention, Tuam, said the overarching aim of the operation is to “restore dignity” to the children that were lost by appropriately burying their remains and, where possible, identifying individuals.“Even if a full identification is not possible, we can at least figure out their biological sex, their age, and maybe some other information. All these things I think will at least restore dignity in death,” he added.Mr McSweeney said the Bon Secours Sisters had provided The Office of the Director of Authorised Intervention (Odait) with access to its archive material and it is hoped that this will also help the identification process.Meanwhile, 14 people have provided DNA to Odait to assist with identification thus far.Forensic archaeologist with Odait, Niamh McCullagh, and Director of Authorised Intervention with Odait Daniel MacSweeney during a press conference at Tuam Stars GAA, Tuam. Photo: Joseph MurrayAround 80 others have expressed interest in providing DNA samples to the team, including 30 who made contact in the last month. Mr MacSweeney said he hopes that more people will get in touch as the work proceeds.“From our regular contact with families and survivors, it is a very emotional time because there has been this long search for answers; this long wait for this excavation to start.“The fact that it's finally starting is something that I think they are happy about, but it also is very difficult because it then brings forward the possibility of finding answers to these very challenging questions.”International experts from Colombia, Spain, UK, Canada, Australia and the US have joined Irish specialists to start the forensic excavation at the site.The team has a €9.4m budget for 2025, with further allocations yet to be finalised by the Department of Public Expenditure.The work will involve a highly complex process of recovering all the remains within the site followed by separating the co-mingled skeletal specimens by sorting them by age and using processes to assess sex.This will allow for the individualisation of each set of remains. The team will also attempt to establish cause of death where possible.Niamh McCullagh, forensic archaeologist with Odait, said a 2016 “test excavation” discovered 20 chambers within a disused sewage tank that contained infant remains ranging from 35 foetal weeks, up to three years old, from a period matching the operation of the institution between 1925-1961.Dr McCullagh said it is difficult to estimate how long it will take for the works to be completed, as they are yet to establish the scale of the work ahead.She explained the work will be complicated, as excavators expect to uncover artefacts relating to previous uses of the site, including as a workhouse.Pre-excavation work has been ongoing since mid-June, when Odait took control of the site.
