Trailer gives first glimpse of film about Tuam mother and baby home

Catherine Corless (right) with actress Monica Dolan (left) at the World Premiere of 'The Lost Children of Tuam' at the Galway Film Fleadh in July. The newly released clip gives audiences a first glimpse of actress Ms Dolan playing Ms Corless, local historian. Photo: Ray Ryan

New footage from the long-awaited film The Lost Children of Tuam has been released, giving audiences a first glimpse of actress Monica Dolan as local historian Catherine Corless as she begins to piece together the disturbing story surrounding the former Bon Secours-run mother and baby home.

In the clip, released by the Irish Film and Television Network, Ms Corless is seen meeting with local people and gathering information as she researches the history of the home and the children who died there.

She is seen pointing to what remains of the former building, as a local tells her: “That’s the old wall of the home. All that’s left now.” 

Their conversation turns to the grotto at the site and the people who have cared for it since the estate was built.

“Do the nuns tend the grotto?” Ms Corless (Monica Dolan) asks. “The nuns? No. The neighbours do it now. Paddy Dooley started that back in the seventies, when the estate was built.”

Catherine Corless uncovered the names of 796 children who died in the former mother and baby home and were never acknowledged publicly until the story came to light in 2014, because they were born to mothers who were unmarried.

The new official trailer also sees the conversation take a darker turn.

“Sure that’s where the bones were found,” one woman says. Corless probes further and another local says: “Oh, that’s right. I remember that. Bones? When? When was it? Seventy-something. Mid-seventies. Two boys saw them.” 

“But what bones were they?” asks Ms Corless. “From way back. The famine”, is the reply.

And then comes the question that begins to open up the wider mystery for Ms Corless.

“Were they not from the home, Nora?” another local asks. “I heard famine bones. I don’t know.” 

It is a brief exchange, but an important moment in the film, as Ms Corless begins to question the explanations she is being given and to wonder whose bones had actually been discovered at the site.

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Directed by Frank Berry, The Lost Children of Tuam follows Catherine Corless's painstaking research into the home and the children who died there.

The film goes on general release in Irish cinemas on September 25, with a Dublin premiere expected at the Lighthouse Cinema on Friday, attended by Catherine Corless, Aidan Corless and members of the cast and production team, including producer Liam Neeson.

Anna Corrigan, whose two brothers died at the home, has described the film as a “deeply moving and accurate portrayal”, and is encouraging people to see it.

“Everyone should go and see it. This is what happened in this country and it is part of our history. There are 9,000 children missing altogether when you go around the country and look at Sean Ross Abbey, Bessborough, Castlepollard and St. Patrick’s. Tuam is only the tip of the iceberg. We have to get the other grounds excavated too."