Nuns have no details of buried children

The religious order behind three of Ireland’s largest and most notorious mother-and-baby homes is unable to confirm how many children were buried on the sites or if they were all buried in coffins.

The Sacred Heart Sisters, which operated three mother-and-baby homes in Bessborough in Cork, Castlepollard in Westmeath and Sean Ross Abbey in Tipperary, said it would “require some time to provide a definitive answer to the query”.

The religious order could not offer any details as to the number of children buried on the grounds of the homes.