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#Bessborough

A COMPREHENSIVE SERIES OF ARTICLES ON THIS TOPIC

<p> More than 1,200 people gathered in Cork in July to protest against the planned development of part of the former Bessborough mother and baby home site, where 923 children are known to have died. Picture: Chani Anderson</p>

munster

Online petition opposing building of apartments at Bessborough reaches 16,000 signatures

Survivors are seeking State and council intervention to protect the remaining grounds amid plans for 106 apartments

<p>Remembrance stones and toys at the 'folly' on the grounds of the former Bessborough mother and baby home. No burial records exist for 859 babies who died in the care of the institution. Picture: Larry Cummins</p>

news

Did Éamon de Valera’s government conspire to cover up the deaths of nearly 700 children in Bessborough?

<p> A protest last month on the Grand Parade in Cork City against the planned development of part of the former Bessborough Mother and Baby Home site, where 923 children are known to have died. Burial records for 859 children and 19 women were missing, and the commission found it was 'highly likely' some had been buried on the institution’s grounds. Picture: Chani Anderson</p>

munster

Group to seek judicial review of planning permission for development at Bessborough

My mother was 'trafficked': Daughter's search uncovers family link to Bessborough's missing children

spotlight

My mother was 'trafficked': Daughter's search uncovers family link to Bessborough's missing children

Smiling retired man with female home carer

yourview

Letters to the Editor: Mental health needs of older people requires a far better response

Leading human rights lawyer joins calls for Government to purchase Bessborough lands

munster

Leading human rights lawyer joins calls for Government to purchase Bessborough lands

Probe into mother and baby homes

Sean Ross Abbey: 'It's another Bessborough...it should be highlighted what happened'

Tina Dooley has opened up about her experience of Sean Ross Abbey for the first time

Sat, 08 Aug, 2026

Church and State tried to silence us, but Gen-X women had new tools

Church and State tried to silence us, but Gen-X women had new tools

For survivors of Bessborough, Cindi Bonny's article was both mirror and megaphone, confirmation that what we lived through was real and an invitation to keep speaking, writes Nóra Flaherty

Fri, 07 Aug, 2026

Letters to the Editor: We fought Church, State, and my own mother to keep our son. We won

Letters to the Editor: We fought Church, State, and my own mother to keep our son. We won

A reader tells how she was forced into Bessborough mother and baby home in 1984, and how she and 'the love of her life' battled to keep their son, and went on to build their family together

Fri, 07 Aug, 2026

Dursey Island Cable Car West Cork ireland

Letters to the Editor: Dursey Island cable car congestion issue can be resolved

Electronic roadside signs — linked to a real-time car-park occupancy monitor at the cable car — could resolve road safety concerns

Sat, 01 Aug, 2026

The Deirdre O’Shaughnessy Podcast: Bessborough survivor Cindi Bonny on the death of her baby Zoei in 1994

The Deirdre O’Shaughnessy Podcast: Bessborough survivor Cindi Bonny on the death of her baby Zoei in 1994

Cindi Bonny was just 16 but she had already experienced homelessness, drug addiction and an abusive relationship when she first entered Bessborough in 1993, pregnant with her son Kevin

Listen | Fri, 31 Jul, 2026

Aaron Gillane and Cillian Trayers 19/7/2026

Letters to the Editor: Hurling refs need to enforce the rules

A reader says referees have been failing to penalise foul hand passes

Fri, 31 Jul, 2026

Bessborough: Minister says 'all options' will be considered for future use of the site

Bessborough: Minister says 'all options' will be considered for future use of the site

Norma Foley also said she will push for cheaper childcare fees in this October’s budget

Thu, 30 Jul, 2026

State's failure to tackle human trafficking akin to accepting 'concreting over burial remains in Bessborough'

State's failure to tackle human trafficking akin to accepting 'concreting over burial remains in Bessborough'

Speaking at an event in Cork, UN special rapporteur on human trafficking Siobhán Mullally said the normalising of illegal adoptions over decades is connected to the normalising of human trafficking now

Thu, 30 Jul, 2026

Grace Lynch funeral

Sinn Féin urges Taoiseach to ringfence funding to purchase Bessborough

Party leader Mary Lou McDonald: 'This cannot become a game of passing responsibility, passing liability, between central Government and Cork County Council'

Wed, 29 Jul, 2026

'Do not bury our history beneath concrete', mother of last baby to die at Bessborough tells Government

'Do not bury our history beneath concrete', mother of last baby to die at Bessborough tells Government

Bessborough survivor Cindi Bonny says her daughter was the last baby to die at the Cork institution and urges the Government to halt redevelopment

Wed, 29 Jul, 2026

Sarah Harte: The pill was illegal for single women when Jennifer Carroll MacNeill was born — how far we've come

Sarah Harte: The pill was illegal for single women when Jennifer Carroll MacNeill was born — how far we've come

The distance between the locked doors of the mother and baby homes and the increased access to contraception today is the measure of how profoundly this country has changed. Amen to that

Wed, 29 Jul, 2026

Bessborough survivor says children were barred from ‘sacred ground’ he now believes was burial site

Bessborough survivor says children were barred from ‘sacred ground’ he now believes was burial site

Joe Quinn, who was born in the Cork mother and baby home and spent his early childhood there, says children were forbidden from entering a wooded area he now suspects may have been used for burials

Tue, 28 Jul, 2026

‘I thought they were dolls’: Pat says he saw babies’ bodies in Bessborough grave in the 1940s

‘I thought they were dolls’: Pat says he saw babies’ bodies in Bessborough grave in the 1940s

Pat Mulcahy's testimony adds fresh evidence to longstanding claims of infant burials on the former Bessborough institution grounds

Sat, 25 Jul, 2026

Clodagh Finn: Acts of defiance and solidarity are very uplifting but why do we still need them?

Clodagh Finn: Acts of defiance and solidarity are very uplifting but why do we still need them?

In light of the selfless group of placard-carrying activists marching to save Bessborough from developers, it is heartening to see previous women's protest movements wrought change that was unimaginable at the time

Sat, 25 Jul, 2026

Excavations at sites of other mother and baby institutions a matter for Government, says Tuam director

Excavations at sites of other mother and baby institutions a matter for Government, says Tuam director

Daniel MacSweeney said his team’s work at Tuam could act as a template for exhumations at Bessborough in Cork and Sean Ross Abbey in Roscrea, Co Tipperary

Thu, 23 Jul, 2026

Bessborough survivor urges Micheál Martin to follow through on commitment to purchase site

Bessborough survivor urges Micheál Martin to follow through on commitment to purchase site

Madeleine Walsh Marvier's son William was born in Bessborough in 1960 and died six weeks later

Wed, 22 Jul, 2026

FILE PHOTO The final report of the Commission of Investigation into Mother and Baby Homes will be brought before Cabinet by Mini

Government has 'not discussed' purchase of Bessborough

Two planning applications have been lodged for 246 apartments on the former mother and baby home site

Fri, 15 Jan, 2021

'I got to meet my birth family, give others same chance' - Bessborough survivor

'I got to meet my birth family, give others same chance' - Bessborough survivor

Mary O’Shea was born in Bessborough in 1935 and ‘adopted’ by a Cork couple in 1942, around the same time the infant mortality rate at the home reached 75%. Here she recounts her memories of an early childhood spent in a mother and baby home, her reaction to the State apology, and her anger over plans to build on the Blackrock site

Thu, 14 Jan, 2021

Mother and baby homes report

Some 15% of children who passed through doors of mother and baby homes died

The commission of investigation found around 9,000 children died in mother and baby homes —about 15% of all the children who passed through their doors.

Tue, 12 Jan, 2021

Experts cannot rule out possibility of burials on Bessborough land

Experts cannot rule out possibility of burials on Bessborough land

Developers have applied for permission to build 67 apartments and 179 residential units

Tue, 01 Dec, 2020