Family welcomes boost to bid for inquest into boy's death at Cork mother and baby home

'It does mean we are back to square one, but we are very happy as the case is moving forward now.' Carmel Cantwell with a candle for her late brother William Gerald Walsh at the annual Bessborough commemoration in the Bessborough Centre, Blackrock, Cork. Picture: Dan Linehan

The family of a baby boy who died in Bessborough mother and baby home has welcomed a breakthrough in their campaign to have an inquest held into his death.

William Walsh was six weeks old when he died at St Finbarr’s hospital on December 2, 1960. His cause of death was given as “renal abscess septicaemia”. 

His mother, Madeleine Bridget Marvier, was 17 when she was admitted to the former institution in Blackrock. The family has fought for years to get William’s documentation, including information on where he was buried. 

They were told he was interred in a small burial plot on the grounds of the former mother and baby home. 

However, a report dated December 12, 1994, later emerged through the Commission of Inquiry into mother and baby homes which said he was buried in an unmarked grave in Carrs Hill. His exact burial plot, however, has never been located.

Last week, the High Court granted William's family leave to return his case to the Cork southern coroner where it will be reviewed entirely by the deputy coroner, who will be appointed in the new year.

Carmel Cantwell at the launch of Deirdre Finnerty's book 'Bessborough Three Women, Three Decades. Three Stories of Courage' in Cork City Library during Cork World Book Fest in 2022. Picture: Denis Minihane

“We are delighted with this outcome,” said Carmel Cantwell, William Walsh's sister. “It doesn’t mean they have granted us an inquest, but it does mean the case will be reviewed entirely again."

The case has come before the High Court three times since 2023, but this is the first time William's family has had a breakthrough in an attempt to secure an inquest.

Ms Cantwell said she is hoping a new deputy coroner being appointed in Cork in the new year will review the entire case with “fresh eyes”. 

“The case will now be given to the new deputy coroner, and we have been granted leave to do this as part of the judicial review.

“It does mean we are back to square one, but we are very happy as the case is moving forward now. I have a good legal team, and I am leaving it in their hands.

William's family believe his death was avoidable. 

"We sought a report from a consultant neonatologist in Scotland who reviewed our papers and believed my brother may have been saved had the nuns taken immediate action when he first became ill at two days old and treated with immediate antibiotics for the infection," said Ms Cantwell.

“We believe he could have been saved, but the nuns did not get him the medical help immediately, it took 16 further days to send him to hospital, where he died after another 19 days.

The most tragic thing is he lay in a morgue for 11 days on his own, and my mother could have seen him but arrangements were made for her to go home to London. William was buried on December 13, 1960.

“Mam is now 83 years old and has only spoken for the first time recently publicly. It is still as traumatic today as it was back then.

“She kept that secret 36 years before she told me and that was only because I moved to Cork, I was brought up in London, she is still there.”

Carmel said her mother cannot spend Christmas in Cork with her because William her baby died there in December. 

“It is a very upsetting time for her, and she remembers going back to London after he died and Oxford Street was covered in lights. It was a horrible time for her, that is why she hasn’t come.

“We are here more than 30 years, and she spent one Christmas with us, it is horrific to see her collapsing in tears over this. She deserves the truth.”