The History of The Irish...Worldwide
Galway Mass Grave Story: A Cautionary Tale
Belfast Telgraph: "Mass Grave of 796 Babies Found in Septic Tank at Catholic Orphanag...
Irish Central: "Mass Grave of Up to 800 Dead Babies Exposed in County Galway"
Al Jezeera: "Nearly 800 Dead Babies Found in Septic Tank in Ireland"
After reading these headlines, one would be excused for thinking that an object that was clearly a tank for human excrement had been recently opened, and the bodies of 800 skeletons had been exhumed. That is exactly what is said above, isn’t it? Except that isn’t what happened at all.
Tuam Mother and Baby Home: The Trouble With the Septic Tank Story
The article above, from today’s Irish Times paints a very different picture. The recent interest is not stemming from any new discovery. The story is that the bones were seen by local boys in the 1970s in some kind of concrete enclosure. One of those boys (now a man, still living in the area) says there might have been around 20 skeletons. A local historian has collected death certificates for 796 children who died in the home over a period of 36 years. The resting place of their bodies, at this time, IS NOT KNOWN. No excavation of the property has been done. At this point, no 800 skeletons have been found.
The Times article raises more questions than answers. Where are these children buried? Why was no investigation conducted in the 1970s when bones were seen? Was the crypt a septic tank, a water tank (as it was called in earlier stories), or something else? Were these children given proper care when they were alive? Then there are the philosophical questions: What is the relationship between the treatment of a body and the respect for a person? How should we tread on land which is known to contain graves, and does this change with the passage of time? Does engraving their names on a plaque right any of the wrongs suffered by the deceased, or does it serve another purpose: to remind us of the significance of every human life?
It’s important to note that the deaths of 796 children are not in doubt. It is also clear that Catholic institutions like this one buried people in ways that were disrespectful and an affront to their own theological dictates. After all, much larger mass graves than this one are found throughout the island, including 11,000 bodies found interred outside Miltown cemetery in Belfast. The underlying view that certain human beings do not deserve life and dignity is intolerable, and the people who ran these institutions have plenty of questions to answer. The people responsible for grossly misrepresenting these facts do as well. Indignance is no substitute for accuracy. As the facts continue to come out, they may be every bit as salacious as the rumours. If they are less so, the inflated tales will only cloud the issue. The truth, reported as it is verified, would honour the departed most.
Those of you who have followed this story, may have noticed its absence, until now, from this website. A sense of caution unfamiliar in media circles prevailed as the dust settled around the shocking early reports. At this point I feel obliged to disclose that my husband, Ryan, is an administrator on the site. That makes me undeniably biased, but I hope my observations are still valid.
I appreciate that TheWildGeese.com is not interested in becoming just one more Irish tabloid. As a reader, I am not interested in websites that run prematurely with half-baked stories and throw up headlines about Hollywood celebrities anytime there is the slightest hint of Irish connection. Sites like that will continue to prosper, because the appetite for sensationalist voyeurism is wide, but it is also shallow. I appreciate your desire to create something deeper; a community of people with interest in the history and culture of Ireland. This includes debates on the issues of the moment, but also the themes of the age; the later giving the former context, nuance, and sanity. To the Wild Geese community, I say, the broader, more balanced view you take does not go unnoticed.
This will likely not be the last article posted on the Wild Geese on this topic, and some may take a different view than mine on the way it should be reported here. The Wild Geese will welcome those views as well, and that openness is another reason I will continue to be an avid reader.
-
Comment by Ryan O'Rourke on June 27, 2014 at 7:49am
-
Well said, John. Completely agree with what you've said regarding the pro-abortion groups. Some of the same folks who are fighting for the "right" to kill living babies are going NUTS about what happened to the remains of babies that had already died.
I'm glad I'm not the only one who sees that as incredibly strange.
-
Comment by Geraldine Callaghan on June 27, 2014 at 9:12am
-
Thanks John Hurley for a common sense and informed comment. Your take on abortion is right on the Mark. No big media outrage there; some will argue that "times have changed", they have, but it doesn't make it right.
-
Comment by Gerry Regan on June 27, 2014 at 1:29pm
-
I think connecting the views of individuals on this sad history to abortion rights is wrong and, honestly, outside the bounds of this discussion. I'm sure there are plenty of advocates on either side of the Tuam issue who are anti-abortion and many who are pro-choice. There's nothing inherent to the issues discussed here that would bias anyone, based on the facts at least, about this discussion. So, please, let's not needlessly insert here the very divisive issue of abortion. We can discuss the Irish experience with abortion and the abortion issue, at any time, if there's interest, but this thread is not an appropriate nor welcome place for this.
-
Comment by Dr. Jane Lyons on June 27, 2014 at 2:13pm
-
I've read the discussion on dead babies - and I see now you have progressed to abortion.
How many of you have ever lived in Ireland?
If you have not lived here, even if you are of Irish descent - what right have you to compare what goes on in my country to yours.
Your country is very different
-
-
a friend of mine once said to me......." What right have I to judge anything said by a woman from New York'
1. I am not from NY
2. I am male - how can I compare to female
Too true - we forget these things
-
Comment by John W. Hurley on June 27, 2014 at 2:22pm
-
Well then Gerry please take the lead and explain what you feel is the actual issue here. Is it:
that the nuns are guilty of burying babies in a cesspool that was being used at the time (as was originally implied)?
Or is it that the nuns murdered these poor innocent babies and then tried to cover it up?
Or is it something else? Please explain.
If the nuns are guilty of wrapping still born infants in swaddling clothes and burying them in a 19th century chamber that they did not know was used to dispose of sewage 100 years prior..... it is very, very sad that these babies were later forgotten, I agree. Unfortunately, that is not what people seem to be angry about.
The truly weird part of the story that I am seeing on all over the web is that:
Irish womens rights activists who are mothers, appear to be the most indignant about this because they want to defend children but that;
these same women again, are also fighting for the rights of modern Irish women to destroy their babies and throw in them in the trash. So yes, it is actually entirely relevant to the moral judgments being leveled at the Church. You see no dichotomy, no contradiction there at all? Gerry to me that is simply bizarre. We don't even have all the facts but we have people attacking the nuns.
I guess the Wild Geese is not what I thought it was. But for the record Gerry I am no right wing conservative who watches FOX News all day.
-
-
Dr. Lyon,
1.) Yes I have lived in Ireland;
2.) While in Dublin I discovered just how much bigotry there could be for Yanks;
3.) My father was from Ireland;
4.) My wife and the mother of my children is from Ireland;
I know under your elitist standards I do not qualify as being Irish but that speaks more about you than it does me.
I am free to have any opinions about what happens in Ireland just as you have opinions about what goes on in America, the U.K. or Germany. You have no opinions about what goes on in any nation other than your own? That too is bizarre. And absurd.
5.) As for your males/female comment....well I think that is a very sad thing to express because then the reverse must be true - that women are not capable of making judgments about anything said by men. I prefer to think of us all as humans first, equal but different.
-
Comment by Brendan Cooper on June 27, 2014 at 2:56pm
-
Saying that someone can't have an intelligent point of view on this story Dr. Lyons because they don't live in Ireland is analogous to saying that one can't have an opinion on fire unless one sticks their hands in the flame. I guess an astronomer really shouldn't be commenting about the conditions on Jupiter unless he has been there? I guess by your logic we should all throw the International Section of our newspapers away as we really shouldn't be sticking our nose in other people business?
I find this parochial position very curious from someone who regularly posts on a website serving the Irish Diaspora post on helping people connect with their Irish roots.
-
-
Hold on
I'm floored
Gerry - it is Gerry - you don't sign you name - you are marking me as a bigotist..............WOW
Never been that before.
You don't know anything about me, you don't know that I have been transcribing gravestones since 1996.
I am FAR from an elitist and I am someone who does an incredible amount of stuff for people from your country who went there from my country.
I'll tell you what John W. Hurley - why don't you go look at my website www.from-ireland.net - that site has been on line since 2001. Why don't you go take a look at it, think about the fact that I get a min of 1000 visitor s a day, think about the fact that these figures were achieved by a woman who had no clue about IT asd how it worked......
and then John...........look a everything else on my wesite and maybe you will come back and tell me I am not elitist.
Regards,
Jane Lyons, Ph.D., Dip Env Engineering
definitely NOT elitist
-
-
Brendan - I bow to your opinion
Had a bit of a bang on the head, as kept in a coma
I;'m doing so great you wouldn't even know what great is - but you were never banged on the head.
Best of luck to you.
Jane
The Wild Geese Shop
Get your Wild Geese merch here ... shirts, hats, sweatshirts, mugs, and more at The Wild Geese Shop.
Irish Heritage Partnership
Adverts
Extend your reach with The Wild Geese Irish Heritage Partnership.
Congrats to Our Winners
Top Content
Videos
© 2024 Created by Gerry Regan.
Powered by
Badges | Report an Issue | Privacy Policy | Terms of Service
You need to be a member of The Wild Geese to add comments!
Join The Wild Geese