HSE must ‘be honest about tandem burials’

There must be clarity from the HSE about the practice of burying dead babies in the coffins of unrelated deceased adults, Fianna Fáil’s health spokesperson, Billy Kelleher, has urged.

The HSE has confirmed the practice known as “tandem burials”, and admitted it was possible that the families of both deceased were not informed of the practice.

The practice that continued up to the 1980s came to light earlier this year when a mother contacted the health authority about her case.

Mr Kelleher said it must be established what hospitals were engaged in the practice; how long it went on and whether family members of both deceased were notified.

“The HSE must be upfront and honest about these issues and ensure that adequate support measures are put in place for all of the families affected,” he said last night.

The HSE has appointed a liaison officer to deal with any queries from families and has extended “heartfelt sympathies” to families that were upset by the information.

The practice has been confirmed by current and retired hospital staff and is believed to have occurred to ensure a baby was buried in consecrated ground.

It emerged that the former secretary general of the Department of Health, Dr Ambrose McLoughlin, was informed by letter about the practice last August by HSE director general, Tony O’Brien.

Mr O’Brien points out in the letter, obtained by RTÉ under the Freedom of Information Act, that tandem burials occurred in exceptional circumstances.

It happened when a newborn baby died in hospital and the options for burial in a hospital or religious plot were not selected.

Mr O’Brien stated: “Our understanding is that the remains would have been placed with adult remains and that, ideally, the awareness and understanding of both families involved would have been sought, though this is not guaranteed.”

A statement from the HSE last night said the practice of tandem burial was a historical practice but one that was likely to have caused much distress and upset for families, both at the time and now. However, the scale of the practice was difficult to determine because of changes in healthcare facilities, including maternity hospitals.

Also, record keeping for such practices was not sufficiently comprehensive to allow a full picture to be established.

“The reasons as to why the practice of tandem burials evolved is unclear,” it stated.

Mary Houlihan, who had a rare blood group, had a large family in the 1930s but six died as babies. Her granddaughter, Jane Donnelly, Balbriggan, Co Dublin, has made it her life mission to find five of the babies that are missing but has had no success so far.

She made a request for information to the Rotunda Hospital under Freedom of Information Act but the hospital had none.

Her grandmother had been told that all of the babies had been buried in the Angel’s Plot in Glasnevin, Dublin, but only one was buried there. “It is desperate that she went to that Angel’s Plot for years when they weren’t there,” she said.

The HSE said it would provide relevant information and support to people in similar circumstances but stressed there was limited information available.