Bodies of hundreds of infants buried at Irish institution to be recovered

• Excavation has commenced to recover the remains of hundreds of infants from a septic tank at a former mother and baby home in Tuam, Co Galway.
• The mass grave, containing 796 babies who died between 1925 and 1961, was uncovered by amateur historian Catherine Corless in 2014.
• A 2017 government investigation confirmed significant human remains of children, buried without coffins in the 9ft-deep tank.
• The painstaking two-year process aims to identify the remains, with DNA assistance from families, before proper re-interment.
• The discovery prompted apologies from the Irish premier and the Bon Secours Sisters, acknowledging the profound historical mistreatment of mothers and children in such homes.

IN FULL

Excavation to begin at Irish mother and baby home where 796 infants were buried in septic tank