Overview

• Ireland’s Office of the Director of Authorised Intervention led full-scale excavations of an unmarked infant burial site at Tuam starting July 14.
• The excavation area is enclosed by 2.4-metre hoarding and under constant surveillance to maintain forensic standards.
• An 18-strong multidisciplinary team from Ireland, Colombia, Spain, Britain, Canada and the United States will recover and analyze remains over two years.
• DNA sampling has begun with about 30 relatives and will expand to support identification of the nearly 800 infants.
• The operation fulfills provisions of the 2022 Institutional Burials Act and follows a state apology and years of advocacy by historian Catherine Corless.