The State of Us - Tuam: Ireland’s secret burial shame
Download Tuam: Ireland’s secret burial shame
It was a story of institutional inhumanity – which, at first, many found unbelievable.
Hundreds of babies and children, buried in an unmarked mass grave, at the site of an institution for unmarried mothers near the west coast of Ireland.
St Mary’s Home operated in Tuam, County Galway, from 1925 until 1961.
A religious order ran the institution, at a time of moral taboos when there was a social stigma around pregnancies outside of marriage.
It’s 11 years since a local amateur historian uncovered evidence of the scandal – and now, an excavation has begun to try to identify the lost children.
BBC Ireland Correspondent Chris Page tells Tara Mills and Declan Harvey about his long association with this horrifying news story, and has the very latest on the excavation.
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Published on Tuesday, 9th September 2025.
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