Tuam babies dumped in septic tank to get ‘dignified burial’ as exhumation is set to begin

Catherine Corless has spoken of her relief that 796 babies dumped in a septic tank in Tuam will finally receive a “dignified burial”.

The historian who uncovered the scandal at the Bon Secours nuns’ mother-and-child home in Galway said she expects the painstaking excavation to begin this summer.

Families have been told that the tiny remains of any babies and young children illegally buried on the site will be properly buried.

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Ahead of a complex excavation, a team of forensic investigators led by project leader Dan McSweeney is currently collecting DNA from relatives of some of the children.

Ms Corless, 69, told the Irish Sunday Mirror: “Although painfully slow, major preparations are underway to excavate the site and exhume the Tuam babies, along with forensic DNA testing of the small remains and ultimately a dignified burial.”

“I didn’t realize what a big task this was for Daniel McSweeney until he recently outlined what lay ahead.”

Mr. McSweeney, a former member of the International Committee of the Red Cross, was named operations manager for the excavation project last summer.

Flowers left at the shrine of the Virgin Mary at the Tuam Mother and Baby Home mass grave site (Image: Charles McQuillan/Getty Images)

Catherine Corless in 2014 at the site of a mass grave for children who died at the Tuam Mother and Child Home in Galway.(Image: Niall Carson/PA Wire)

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