Overview
- On Wednesday investigators announced the recovery of 22 additional sets of infant remains from the former St Mary’s mother and baby home in Tuam, bringing the confirmed total to 99.
- The newly found remains were recovered in coffins beneath a gravel-covered area that had been used for vehicle access and showed no surface markers of burial.
- All recovered material is being transferred to the Toghermore forensic facility for cleaning, radiology, 3D scanning and DNA sampling to try to establish identities.
- Sixty-two DNA reference samples have been collected from survivors and relatives so far and officials plan to seek an amendment to the Institutional Burials Act to allow sampling from first cousins.
- Investigators say the work will be slow and technically hard because burials are densely clustered, the site sits inside a housing estate, chambered tanks lie deeper under the memorial garden, and survivor consultation is central to the process.