Support from readers like you keeps The Journal open.
You are visiting us because we have something you value. Independent, unbiased news that tells the truth. Advertising revenue goes some way to support our mission, but this year it has not been enough.
If you've seen value in our reporting, please contribute what you can, so we can continue to produce accurate and meaningful journalism. For everyone who needs it.
A NUMBER OF babies who died at Cork County Home were buried in the same coffins as adults, or in coffins containing amputated limbs.
The revelation is included in the final report of the Mother and Baby Homes Commission of Investigation.
The report, which was released earlier this month, confirmed that about 9,000 children died in the 18 ‘homes’ under investigation.
The Commission had difficulty in locating certain burials records, if they existed, of several institutions such as Bessborough Mother and Baby Home.
The Commission also struggled to locate burial records for Cork County Home and District Hospital, a former workhouse that was subsequently renamed St Finbarr’s Hospital.
The Commission found that 2,318 unmarried mothers and over 2,400 children lived in the institution while it operated from 1921 to 1960. A number of the children were unaccompanied.
Some 545 children “died in infancy or early childhood” at Cork County Home during the same period.
The Commission also discovered that some infants were buried in the same coffins as strangers, or in coffins containing amputated limbs.
It located mortuary records relating to St Finbarr’s Hospital for the years 1968-85 at Cork University Maternity Hospital.
The report notes: “This set of index cards was compiled by a mortuary porter at the institution and recorded patient details including name, last address, date of death, name of undertaker and place of burial.
“Index cards relating to ‘illegitimate’ infants who died in St Finbarr’s Hospital in this period stated that all were interred in St Michael’s Cemetery.”
Advertisement
The Commission examined the burial registers at St Michael’s Cemetery but “found no burial record for the infants identified on the mortuary index cards”.
“Further analysis of the mortuary index cards revealed that in some instances deceased infants were recorded as having been buried in the coffin of a deceased adult patient.
“In other instances, infants were recorded as being buried in coffins containing amputated limbs.”
The Commission established that the Cork Health Authority/Southern Health Board bought burial plots in St Michael’s Cemetery since it opened in 1948.
“These burial plots were used to bury the unclaimed remains of adults who died in Cork county home/St Finbarr’s Hospital,” the report states.
The Commission was not able to establish if the practice of burying the remains of ‘illegitimate’ infants in the coffins of deceased adults was undertaken as far back as 1948.
As well as unmarried mothers, older, disabled and sick people, including people with mental illness, lived in county homes. The unmarried mothers often had to care for other residents in the institutions.
Many children were transferred to Cork County Home from Bessborough prior to being ‘boarded out’ (fostered) by the local authority.
‘Heartbreaking and shocking’
Mary Harney, who was born in the Bessborough mother and baby home in Cork in 1949 and campaigns on behalf of survivors, said the revelations about burials at the county home are “heartbreaking and shocking”.
After I read that, I had a terrible night of nightmares. Every time I closed my eyes it was all I could see, babies in shrouds buried with strangers.
“They say that children were buried with adults, not their own parents. They were put into coffins that already held a dead adult.
“Also, some children were put into coffins with limbs. The same hospital that is attached to the county home in Cork had an amputation and limb processing unit making false limbs.
“So when the limbs were amputated they were then buried, and some of the babies were put in with those limbs.”
Related Reads
'The brother whipped him until his back was bleeding, then gave him an orange to keep quiet'
Children's Committee wants Chair of Mother and Baby Homes Commission to answer questions
5-year investigation finds at least 9,000 children died in Ireland's mother and baby homes
Harney told TheJournal.ie the manner in which these children were buried reinforces that view held by some people in the past that “children born to single parents were disposable”.
“We are supposed to be a Christian country, a Catholic country, and the ritual of burial in Ireland has a very special history, it is very important to families.
“When you see that children born to single women were disposed of in such a fashion, it’s horrendous. It reinforces the image that we were not equal citizens, that the State did not cherish all of its children equally.”
The report also notes that the Commission and HSE staff “made extensive efforts to locate the mortuary records” related to Cork County Home “with limited success”.
“Although some mortuary records relating to the years 1968-85 were located, mortuary records from the 1940s to the late-1960s were not found.”
The Commission says it “examined all available burial registers relating to cemeteries in Cork city and hinterland”.
“Of the 449 confirmed deaths of ‘illegitimate’ infants and children in Cork County Home in the period 1922-60, burial records for just two were found. Both were found in the burial registers of St Finbarr’s Cemetery and related to burials in the ‘poor ground’ section in 1948 and 1950.”
Archivists at Cork City and County Archives made the Commission aware of a ledger called ‘Record of Deaths in Cork County Home and Hospital’ which covered periods between 1931 and 1984.
The report states: “The volume relating to the period April 1931 to August 1940 recorded whether the board of assistance issued a shroud, coffin or burial plot.
“Although many adults who died in the institution during this period were allotted burial plots, none was allotted to ‘illegitimate’ infants and children who died in the institution in this period.
“This volume recorded that 50 deceased ‘illegitimate’ infants and children were allotted shrouds: nine of these were also allotted coffins. It appears that those who were allotted coffins were children over one year old.”
Readers like you are keeping these stories free for everyone...
A mix of advertising and supporting contributions helps keep paywalls away from valuable information like this article.
Over 5,000 readers like you have already stepped up and support us with a monthly payment or a once-off donation.
Discovery of human hand in yard of Dublin primary school not thought to be malicious
Updated
1 hr ago
35.8k
Jordan Bardella
Far-right French leader cancels US conference appearance after 'Nazi' gesture by Steve Bannon
25 mins ago
2.6k
Met Éireann
Status Yellow wind warning for 10 counties tomorrow as stormy conditions expected
Updated
20 Feb
63.5k
47
Your Cookies. Your Choice.
Cookies help provide our news service while also enabling the advertising needed to fund this work.
We categorise cookies as Necessary, Performance (used to analyse the site performance) and Targeting (used to target advertising which helps us keep this service free).
We and our 152 partners store and access personal data, like browsing data or unique identifiers, on your device. Selecting Accept All enables tracking technologies to support the purposes shown under we and our partners process data to provide. If trackers are disabled, some content and ads you see may not be as relevant to you. You can resurface this menu to change your choices or withdraw consent at any time by clicking the Cookie Preferences link on the bottom of the webpage .Your choices will have effect within our Website. For more details, refer to our Privacy Policy.
We and our vendors process data for the following purposes:
Use precise geolocation data. Actively scan device characteristics for identification. Store and/or access information on a device. Personalised advertising and content, advertising and content measurement, audience research and services development.
Cookies Preference Centre
We process your data to deliver content or advertisements and measure the delivery of such content or advertisements to extract insights about our website. We share this information with our partners on the basis of consent. You may exercise your right to consent, based on a specific purpose below or at a partner level in the link under each purpose. Some vendors may process your data based on their legitimate interests, which does not require your consent. You cannot object to tracking technologies placed to ensure security, prevent fraud, fix errors, or deliver and present advertising and content, and precise geolocation data and active scanning of device characteristics for identification may be used to support this purpose. This exception does not apply to targeted advertising. These choices will be signaled to our vendors participating in the Transparency and Consent Framework.
Manage Consent Preferences
Necessary Cookies
Always Active
These cookies are necessary for the website to function and cannot be switched off in our systems. They are usually only set in response to actions made by you which amount to a request for services, such as setting your privacy preferences, logging in or filling in forms. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not then work.
Targeting Cookies
These cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.
Functional Cookies
These cookies enable the website to provide enhanced functionality and personalisation. They may be set by us or by third party providers whose services we have added to our pages. If you do not allow these cookies then these services may not function properly.
Performance Cookies
These cookies allow us to count visits and traffic sources so we can measure and improve the performance of our site. They help us to know which pages are the most and least popular and see how visitors move around the site. All information these cookies collect is aggregated and therefore anonymous. If you do not allow these cookies we will not be able to monitor our performance.
Store and/or access information on a device 104 partners can use this purpose
Cookies, device or similar online identifiers (e.g. login-based identifiers, randomly assigned identifiers, network based identifiers) together with other information (e.g. browser type and information, language, screen size, supported technologies etc.) can be stored or read on your device to recognise it each time it connects to an app or to a website, for one or several of the purposes presented here.
Personalised advertising and content, advertising and content measurement, audience research and services development 136 partners can use this purpose
Use limited data to select advertising 106 partners can use this purpose
Advertising presented to you on this service can be based on limited data, such as the website or app you are using, your non-precise location, your device type or which content you are (or have been) interacting with (for example, to limit the number of times an ad is presented to you).
Create profiles for personalised advertising 78 partners can use this purpose
Information about your activity on this service (such as forms you submit, content you look at) can be stored and combined with other information about you (for example, information from your previous activity on this service and other websites or apps) or similar users. This is then used to build or improve a profile about you (that might include possible interests and personal aspects). Your profile can be used (also later) to present advertising that appears more relevant based on your possible interests by this and other entities.
Use profiles to select personalised advertising 77 partners can use this purpose
Advertising presented to you on this service can be based on your advertising profiles, which can reflect your activity on this service or other websites or apps (like the forms you submit, content you look at), possible interests and personal aspects.
Create profiles to personalise content 37 partners can use this purpose
Information about your activity on this service (for instance, forms you submit, non-advertising content you look at) can be stored and combined with other information about you (such as your previous activity on this service or other websites or apps) or similar users. This is then used to build or improve a profile about you (which might for example include possible interests and personal aspects). Your profile can be used (also later) to present content that appears more relevant based on your possible interests, such as by adapting the order in which content is shown to you, so that it is even easier for you to find content that matches your interests.
Use profiles to select personalised content 33 partners can use this purpose
Content presented to you on this service can be based on your content personalisation profiles, which can reflect your activity on this or other services (for instance, the forms you submit, content you look at), possible interests and personal aspects. This can for example be used to adapt the order in which content is shown to you, so that it is even easier for you to find (non-advertising) content that matches your interests.
Measure advertising performance 127 partners can use this purpose
Information regarding which advertising is presented to you and how you interact with it can be used to determine how well an advert has worked for you or other users and whether the goals of the advertising were reached. For instance, whether you saw an ad, whether you clicked on it, whether it led you to buy a product or visit a website, etc. This is very helpful to understand the relevance of advertising campaigns.
Measure content performance 60 partners can use this purpose
Information regarding which content is presented to you and how you interact with it can be used to determine whether the (non-advertising) content e.g. reached its intended audience and matched your interests. For instance, whether you read an article, watch a video, listen to a podcast or look at a product description, how long you spent on this service and the web pages you visit etc. This is very helpful to understand the relevance of (non-advertising) content that is shown to you.
Understand audiences through statistics or combinations of data from different sources 75 partners can use this purpose
Reports can be generated based on the combination of data sets (like user profiles, statistics, market research, analytics data) regarding your interactions and those of other users with advertising or (non-advertising) content to identify common characteristics (for instance, to determine which target audiences are more receptive to an ad campaign or to certain contents).
Develop and improve services 82 partners can use this purpose
Information about your activity on this service, such as your interaction with ads or content, can be very helpful to improve products and services and to build new products and services based on user interactions, the type of audience, etc. This specific purpose does not include the development or improvement of user profiles and identifiers.
Use limited data to select content 38 partners can use this purpose
Content presented to you on this service can be based on limited data, such as the website or app you are using, your non-precise location, your device type, or which content you are (or have been) interacting with (for example, to limit the number of times a video or an article is presented to you).
Use precise geolocation data 43 partners can use this special feature
With your acceptance, your precise location (within a radius of less than 500 metres) may be used in support of the purposes explained in this notice.
Actively scan device characteristics for identification 25 partners can use this special feature
With your acceptance, certain characteristics specific to your device might be requested and used to distinguish it from other devices (such as the installed fonts or plugins, the resolution of your screen) in support of the purposes explained in this notice.
Ensure security, prevent and detect fraud, and fix errors 86 partners can use this special purpose
Always Active
Your data can be used to monitor for and prevent unusual and possibly fraudulent activity (for example, regarding advertising, ad clicks by bots), and ensure systems and processes work properly and securely. It can also be used to correct any problems you, the publisher or the advertiser may encounter in the delivery of content and ads and in your interaction with them.
Deliver and present advertising and content 96 partners can use this special purpose
Always Active
Certain information (like an IP address or device capabilities) is used to ensure the technical compatibility of the content or advertising, and to facilitate the transmission of the content or ad to your device.
Match and combine data from other data sources 68 partners can use this feature
Always Active
Information about your activity on this service may be matched and combined with other information relating to you and originating from various sources (for instance your activity on a separate online service, your use of a loyalty card in-store, or your answers to a survey), in support of the purposes explained in this notice.
Link different devices 50 partners can use this feature
Always Active
In support of the purposes explained in this notice, your device might be considered as likely linked to other devices that belong to you or your household (for instance because you are logged in to the same service on both your phone and your computer, or because you may use the same Internet connection on both devices).
Identify devices based on information transmitted automatically 84 partners can use this feature
Always Active
Your device might be distinguished from other devices based on information it automatically sends when accessing the Internet (for instance, the IP address of your Internet connection or the type of browser you are using) in support of the purposes exposed in this notice.
Save and communicate privacy choices 64 partners can use this special purpose
Always Active
The choices you make regarding the purposes and entities listed in this notice are saved and made available to those entities in the form of digital signals (such as a string of characters). This is necessary in order to enable both this service and those entities to respect such choices.
have your say