3 March 2017

The new revelations about the find of babies’ remains in Tuam, County Galway is beyond vile. While I’ve read a lot of well-meaning comments today, they seem to imply this is at a distance; that it’s history from a by-gone age.

But for me and for so many others, it is so much closer. We were born in Tuam and in places like Tuam. Hearing such news again and again, touches deep into our souls to know our crib mates were treated in such appalling, and often fatal, ways. Some have to deal with news about places they were born. Others wait, wondering will they wake to find their place of birth front page news and have to deal with similar horrors. Many of us remain unaware if we had other siblings and if we did, might they be among those found in Tuam and similar ‘resting places’?

And then there’s ‘survivor’s guilt’ to contend with. I know I’ve felt that from the outset of matters like this beginning to become public in the 1990s. When I watched ‘Dear Daughter’ and saw what happened to girls who were born in the same Home but weren’t adopted or reclaimed, a strange sense of guilt for escaping hit hard.

Commenting on all the news articles is great but in so doing, please be sensitive when posting. It may be at a distance – physically and mentally – for you but for far too many of us, it is very close indeed.

For us, it’s not history. For us, it’s our story.