Hundreds call for remains of babies to be exhumed

Hundreds of people taking part in a vigil have called for the remains of “hundreds of babies” to be exhumed from a site in Galway.

Around 500 people gathered for the silent vigil in Tuam to coincide with the Papal Mass in Dublin.

People walked from Tuam Town Hall for 30 minutes to the former site of the mother and baby home while stopping at poignant spots along the way, including the local graveyard.

Baby shoes, toys and teddy bears were tied to the railings along the route.

They gathered at the site where remains of infant bones have been found. It was managed by the Sisters of the Bon Secours between 1925 and 1961.

Annette Mckay, whose sister vanished from the mother and baby home, said that the children deserve to have a “proper burial”.

Her mother, Maggie O’connor, from Galway was sent to Bon Secours when she was 17. She was pregnant after being raped.

Ms Mckay, 64, knew nothing of her oldest sister, Mary Margaret O’connor, for many years.

The child is reported to have died in the mother and baby home in 1943 from natural causes.

“People are shouting to have this place dug up, it’s an obscenity,” she said.

“We could never imagine there would be a septic tank with almost 800 children in it, never in your wildest nightmares.”