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20 March 2017

I am haunted by the names of the Tuam babies, what would they have become?

Ireland has always been a good place for children to grow up – as long as they were the “right” kind of children. Patrick. Mary. Matthew. Peter. Julia. James. Joseph. John. Maud. Mary Kate. Christina. Annie. Richard. Florence. Rose. Luke. Donald. Eileen. Henry. Sabina. Bridget. Fabian. Oliver. Stephen. Imelda. Paul.
There isn’t enough space in this column for all of their names. Seven hundred and ninety six death certificates. Seven hundred and ninety six infants who died at the mother and baby home in Tuam, some of whose remains are among the “significant quantities” found in underground chambers on the site of the home.