International experts join mass grave excavation at former mother and baby home in Ireland

International experts have joined Irish specialists at a mass grave where almost 800 babies and young children are thought to be buried.

A team from Colombia, Spain, the UK, Canada and the US has linked up with staff from the Office of the Director of Authorised Intervention (ODAIT) before excavation work begins at the site of a former home for unmarried mothers in Tuam, Co Galway, Ireland. It is hoped the process will lead to the identification of the remains of 796 children who are believed to have died at St Mary's home between 1925 and 1961.

The work follows research by local historian Catherine Corless which uncovered the deaths of the children at the home, which was run by Catholic nuns. Ms Corless found in 2014 that the youngsters were buried in a sewage system.

Mother and baby homes were institutions where young pregnant women were sent, often under pressure from local clergy. There, they would give birth and eventually be separated from their children, who were offered up for adoption, sometimes in the US.

Irish society in the mid-20th century was deeply intertwined with the teachings of the Catholic Church, and pregnancies out of wedlock were seen as scandalous. The Irish government made a formal state apology in 2021 after an inquiry found an "appalling level of infant mortality" in Ireland's mother and baby homes, concluding that around 9,000 children had died in the 18 institutions investigated.

Read more: 9,000 children died at 'brutally misogynistic' homes in IrelandArchbishop 'embarrassed' over role of church in mother and baby homes scandal The Bon Secours Sisters, which ran the home in Tuam, also offered a "profound apology" after acknowledging the order had "failed to protect the inherent dignity" of women and children there. The work at the burial site, which is being undertaken by the ODAIT, will involve exhumation, analysis, identification if possible, and re-interment of the remains at the site.

The excavation is expected to begin next week and is anticipated to last two years. ODAIT leader Daniel McSweeney said on Monday: "We have reached an important new stage of this unique and incredibly complex excavation.

"It's three weeks since we took control of the site and significant progress has been made since then. "We have recruited essential expert staff to the team, preparation work at the site is ongoing to safeguard the integrity of the site and the sensitive nature of the work.".