In Conversation with Catherine Corless

Recorded December 7, 2018. Listen back to this ‘In Conversation’
with Catherine Corless who was interviewed by Professor of Genetics
at Trinity College Dublin, Aoife Mc Lysaght. As a family historian
researching in her own time and without any university affiliation,
Catherine Corless has worked on a particular, and shameful, aspect
of Irish history, namely the “Mother and Baby Homes”. Her work in
gathering information on the institution in Tuam, Co. Galway, has
revealed patterns of the mistreatment of individuals, both adult
women and their infants, under de facto incarceration. Though local
people may have been aware of the conditions, the absence of
records and hard data allowed the hierarchy of these institutions
and the state to ignore or deny the extent or even the existence of
the mistreatment and incarceration. Catherine Corless meticulously
collected records of births, deaths and burials, which ultimately
lead to the uncovering of a mass grave in the location of the
septic tank system. This meant that the shameful history of the
institution could no longer be ignored. Catherine Corless’s work
required careful collection and cross-referencing of records. When
she requested records from the Western Health Boards and from the
Bon Secours Sisters (who ran the institution) she was told that
they had none. She was informed that because she had no university
qualification or affiliation the local county council were also
unwilling to give her the records she needed. Ultimately, she
requested records of deaths at the home from the Galway registry.
There were 796 such deaths but no burial records. She has shed
light on this Irish institution, while establishing an all too
familiar pattern that was not unique to Tuam. Her work has been key
to forcing the recognition of the mistreatment of innocent
individuals in these institutions and as such is an important agent
of social change in Ireland. Learn more at:
https://www.tcd.ie/trinitylongroomhub/