Ireland has been in a state of turmoil following the discovery of nearly 800 infant remains in a mass grave at Tuam, County Galway. The babies – aged from 35 foetal weeks to two to three years – died between 1925 and 1961, mostly, it is suggested, from infectious diseases or malnutrition.
The site was a “mother and baby” home for unmarried mothers, run by the Bon Secours order – at the behest of the Irish state – and the mass grave may have been subsequently connected to a septic tank built over it, although this claim has not been fully established.
