Horror as 796 infants Found ‘Dumped in Septic Tank’

Irish investigators have uncovered what appears to be a second mass infant burial site at the former Bon Secours Mother and Baby Home in Tuam, County Galway — a place long haunted by the ghosts of nearly 800 lost children.

Officials with the Office of the Director of Authorized Intervention in Tuam (ODAIT) confirmed “consistent evidence” of another graveyard, located roughly 60 to 100 yards from the now-infamous septic tank where the remains of 796 babies were discovered nearly a decade ago.

“There were no surface or ground-level indications of the possibility of a burial ground at this location prior to excavation,” ODAIT said in a statement.

Daniel MacSweeney, who leads the ongoing excavation, told Ireland’s RTE network that bones found at the second site are “believed to belong to infants born to women who were sent to the home under the care of the Bon Secours nuns.”

Since the latest dig began in July, workers have recovered the remains of at least 11 infants in small coffins. The remains have been sent for forensic testing to determine ages, causes of death, and potential family links.

More than 160 people have already offered DNA samples to help identify the children. MacSweeney urged others with family ties to the home to come forward. “Every child deserves their name,” he said. “Our goal is to bring truth and dignity to what was hidden for decades.”

The full excavation is expected to take another two years.

Known locally simply as “The Home,” the Bon Secours institution operated from 1925 to 1961 as one of dozens of Catholic-run maternity facilities for “fallen women.” Unmarried mothers — some as young as 14 — were forced to give birth in secret.

Their babies were often taken away without consent, many adopted by families in Ireland, the United States, and beyond. Others never left alive.

According to historian Catherine Corless, whose 2014 research first exposed the Tuam scandal, only two of the 798 children who died were given proper burials. “The rest were discarded like trash,” she said at the time, “buried in a sewage tank or unmarked graves.”

Meanwhile, the mothers were forced into a year of unpaid labor as penance — a system critics now compare to modern slavery.

Public outrage over the Tuam revelations led to a sweeping government inquiry into 14 mother-and-baby homes across Ireland. The 2015 report found “significant quantities of human remains” and “appalling levels of infant mortality,” often due to malnutrition, disease, and neglect.

Then–Taoiseach Micheál Martin issued a formal state apology in 2021, calling the institutions “a dark, shameful chapter of our history.” The Sisters of Bon Secours also apologized, admitting “deep sorrow for the unimaginable suffering.”

But survivors say words aren’t enough. “We want justice, not just sympathy,” said Mary Moriarty, a 79-year-old Tuam survivor who was born in the home and separated from her mother at birth. “These babies were our brothers and sisters. They deserve names, graves, and truth.”

Forensic teams continue to work carefully at the newly discovered site, marking each discovery with flags and cataloguing artifacts for DNA testing.

A small memorial — a weathered teddy bear and a handmade cross — now sits at the edge of the dig. Locals leave flowers, rosaries, and handwritten notes reading “Rest in Peace.”

“It’s heartbreaking work,” said one volunteer archaeologist. “Every tiny bone we find is a life lost — a story erased by shame.”

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Sources:
RTE News, The Irish Times, Associated Press, Office of the Director of Authorized Intervention in Tuam (ODAIT).