Third of dead babies ‘were Travellers’
MORE than a third of the bodies buried in a septic tank in Tuam may have been Traveller babies, the granddaughter of a woman buried in a mass grave claimed yesterday.
Laura Stewart, 23, whose grandmother Angela is buried in a Magdalene laundry grave in Cork, said she had identified 335 “known Traveller surnames” in the 796 remains buried at the Catholic-run mother and baby home in Co Galway.
Laura said in her blog: “I have identified 335 names that are recorded Travellers’ known surnames. So that would be 64% of the population with Tuam.
“That is 42% of the 796 babies that lay in the Tuam mass grave.”
Laura and her mother Mary Collins claim the State and Church were involved in ethnic cleansing at the Tuam home and other Magdalene laundries.
She added: “During these times of social cleansing it’s been very clear from the start, due to my family’s story and the prejudice Travellers still face today, we had a gut feeling from the beginning a high number was from the Travelling community.”