Tuam excavation uncovers 10 more infant remains, bringing total site recoveries to 109
Forensic teams in County Galway recovered 10 more infant remains from coffins in a hand-excavated section, while Irish officials prepared legislation to expand family DNA identification to first cousins.
Latest excavation findings in Tuam
Forensic teams excavating the Dublin Road site of a former mother-and-baby institution in Tuam, County Galway, have uncovered the remains of 10 more infants. The recovery brings the total count of infant remains found at the site to 109 since full-scale excavation work commenced in July 2025. The latest 11-week operational phase, running from 16 July to 30 September 2026, focused on an area in the south-west of the grounds. Workers excavated the section by hand and identified evidence of coffins alongside all 10 sets of remains, in a specific sector where 22 infant remains had been located during earlier digs. The overall excavation is led by the Office of the Director of Authorised Intervention, Tuam (ODAIT) and is scheduled to span two years. Following the completion of this sector, the excavation team moved to an adjacent area leading up to and beyond the original boundary wall of the institution.
- Tuam mother-and-baby institution opens under the Bon Secours order
- Tuam mother-and-baby home closes
- Catherine Corless identifies 796 infant death certificates without burial records
- Institutional Burials Act passes into law to authorize forensic excavations
- Forensic excavation begins at the Dublin Road site in Tuam
- Exhumation count reaches 99 infant remains
- ODAIT confirms recovery of 10 more infant remains, bringing the total to 109
Origins and discovery of the burial site
The Tuam institution operated under the direction of the Bon Secours religious order between 1925 and 1961. The site drew scrutiny in 2014 when research by local historian Catherine Corless revealed official death records for 796 children and infants associated with the facility, without any corresponding cemetery or burial documentation. The lack of burial records pointed to undocumented interments across the grounds of the former home. Prior to the latest operational phase, ODAIT had recovered 99 sets of infant remains from a concentrated area of the grounds by July 2026. Following that milestone, senior forensic archaeologist Niamh McCullagh described the potential scale of the excavation.
It's not outside the realms of probability that we will find up to 800 individuals, but it's impossible to say at this point.
- Documented deaths (1925–1961)
- 796 individuals
- Total remains recovered as of October 2026
- 109 individuals
- Remains recovered prior to July 2026 update
- 99 individuals
Forensic analysis and mortuary procedures
All 10 sets of remains recovered during the latest phase were transferred to a dedicated forensic facility and mortuary in the nearby village of Toghermore. Forensic anthropologists are examining the remains to establish individual profiles while maintaining standardized mortuary care protocols. Alongside the physical recovery, the investigative team collected 12 additional DNA reference samples between 16 July and 30 September 2026. These samples were delivered to Forensic Science Ireland for genetic sequencing and matching. The intake of these samples raised the cumulative number of reference profiles gathered by ODAIT to 74.
Legislative expansion for relatives
Identification efforts currently operate under the provisions of the Institutional Burials Act 2022, which allows biological relatives to submit DNA reference samples. Eligible maternal and paternal relatives under the 2022 legislation include parents, grandparents, siblings, aunts, uncles, nieces, and nephews. To broaden the identification scope, officials from the Department of Children, Equality and Disability worked with the Office of the Attorney General to draft amendments extending eligibility to first cousins. A government bill containing these statutory changes will be published in the coming days before proceeding through the Houses of the Oireachtas for formal consideration and enactment.
