Tuam family group hits out at 'deeply upsetting' online posts over excavations at mother and baby home

In online messages, people have questioned why forensics are exhuming encoffined babies.

The exhumation, which covers a 5,000sq m area, and is divided into five sections, is not currently covering the green area most people are familiar with. Instead, forensics are currently working in another area, where they recently discovered the 33 babies.

“Forensics are currently excavating a car park and alleyway,” said Anna Corrigan, whose two brothers died in the former home.

“The children they have found so far, were buried under a pathway, and while they might have been in coffins, that burial site was later tarmacked over and turned into a carpark.

“It is not the green gated area where the statue of Mary is. Forensics have not even reached that area yet. That section will be the last to be excavated.

What forensics have found so far is a burial site that was covered over by the council and is not on consecrated ground, so somebody basically buried those children and then knowingly tarmacked over them years later.

Ms Corrigan said it was “deeply upsetting” to read “ill-informed” comments online, where some members of the public have hit out at the group.

One person called it a “witch hunt”, while another said “they’re digging in the old graveyard, and all the babies were properly buried”.

Ms Corrigan said “This is so hurtful. They are not digging in an old graveyard, there is only one graveyard in Tuam and that's not it. Maybe people are not aware of this but there are five areas to be excavated, they haven’t got to the septic tank yet.

“Right now, forensics are finding babies under a carpark and instead of outrage, some are saying 'so what?'."

Ms Corrigan said she wanted to remind people the exhumation was nowhere near completed.

“It would really help if people looked at the maps and familiarised themselves with what is really happening, rather than excusing coffins under an alleyway and carpark. It is very disrespectful to the children and us."

A report secured under Freedom of Information showed Galway County Council assigned £2,000 for playing equipment over the children’s graveyard at the time of development of the Dublin Road housing estate in the 1970s.

“This was like a direct provision unit, and the council oversaw it, they are an organ of the State and obviously never asked anyone where the children were being buried," said Ms Corrigan.

The Office of the Director of Authorised Intervention Tuam said in its recent monthly report that “to date, all remains recovered from this area are of infants that were buried in coffins”, and that they were buried during the period of operation of the mother and baby home, 1925 to 1961. Forensic analysis is under way.