Expert’s concerns over damage at Tuam site
Condition of burial site of up to 796 babies is very likely to have deteriorated
THE consultant forensic archeologist who worked on the Tuam mother and baby home has expressed concerns about the condition of the site where up to 796 babies are buried.
Dr Niamh McCullagh led the forensic excavation at the Tuam site in 2016 and 2017. However, she fears damage may have been caused to temporary structures put in place at the time that were only supposed to last for six months.
Dr McCullagh told the Irish Mail on Sunday: ‘It’s an unknown. The site was open for four weeks, then two weeks, so we didn’t experience the site over times where there would have been water table fluctuations and seasonal variations.
‘We do know that the structures in place were not permanent measures, which is why the concern was reiterated because we don’t know what damage has been caused in the intervening years; we certainly didn’t expect that it would be nearly five years later.’
Children’s Minister Roderic O’Gorman recently confirmed a
‘We don’t know what damage was caused’
full forensic investigation of the whole site will be undertaken, and it is hoped the excavation will get under way before the end of the year. The Expert Technical Group that produced the report on the Tuam site said it will likely take between 12 and 14 months to complete the work.
Dr McCullagh said it is difficult to give exact timelines for the work, and that it will depend on how quickly a director of authorised interventions for the excavation is appointed.
She said: ‘From this point everything will have a knock-on effect, it will depend on when the legislation is enacted, when the director is appointed. The director will have to hire staff, then you would have to establish who will do the excavation work. Decisions will have to made on whether the work needs to be tendered for it or whether a team can be hired directly.’
Under the Institutional Burials Bill, a director of authorised interventions will have responsibility for excavation, recovery and analysis of remains at a particular site.
An advisory board can also be set up to advise the director, and can include experts and survivors. Excavations must be carried out to a forensic standard and the gardaí and coroner should be notified if there is evidence of a violent
or unnatural death. A DNA programme will identify any remains, with samples from participating relatives. Remains will be returned to family
members where possible, while the director can also arrange for remains to be reinterred in a dignified way.
Dr McCullagh said it is vital we remember the reason why this work is being carried out and why it needs to be done in a timely manner. ‘Essentially this is about recovering the people who are interred there and that needs to be the primary focus.’
Last week, the MoS highlighted concerns about potential baby burials connected to the Tuam home at a nearby site known as the ‘bishop’s field’.
However, Catherine Corless, the local historian whose research uncovered the Tuam babies scandal, said this weekend that baby burials at this site are unlikely.
‘By the 1880s Tuam opened a new cemetery on the Athenry Road for all Tuam residents, and there was a huge area allocated for workhouse deaths, known now as the “paupers plot”. The cemetery caretaker keeps a register of all deaths therein, their names, addresses, ages and who owns the grave plot. No home babies were ever buried there,’ she said. The ‘bishops field’ is located next to this plot and Ms Corless has said that, from her historical knowledge of Tuam and studying aerial photographs of the area, there is no evidence of burials at this location. The historian also expressed concern that any potential test excavation at this site could unnecessarily delay the full dig and DNA testing of remains on the site of the former home.