A fragment of a human adult tooth is the only human remains found to date by archaeologists excavating the site of the former mother and baby institution in Tuam, Co Galway, according to an update issued on Friday.
Excavation of the site began on July 14th and is expected to take at least two years.
In the six weeks since, early excavation work has focused on two areas: the site of a former workhouse yard (outlined in blue in the below picture) and the high stone boundary wall at the eastern side of the site (outlined in yellow).
Machine excavation took place in the former yard of the workhouse, adjacent to the playground at the site, while hand excavation was undertaken in test trenches by the 19th-century boundary wall.
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The excavation of the site is being led by the Office of the Director of Authorised Intervention, Tuam (ODAIT). On Friday it said its expert osteoarchaeologists confirmed that a single fragment of a dissociated human adult tooth had been found.
“This is undergoing analysis. This recovery is testament to the detailed methods that are being used on the site,” a spokeswoman said.
The team is due to use part of the HSE’s campus in Toghermore, Co Galway, as its mortuary facility, where forensic analysis of any human remains and evidence recovered from the Tuam site will take place.
Works to adapt the facility for the excavation’s needs are in the planning stage. In the interim the team is using a temporary off-site facility in nearby Headford for the storage and initial forensic analysis of some of the recovered items.
A statement noted that the team’s research “indicates a low likelihood of human remains being present” in the areas excavated so far.
The excavation is taking place 11 years after research by local historian Catherine Corless revealed that 796 children died at the institution, which was run by the Bon Secours religious order between 1925 and 1961.
[ Tuam is a microcosm for Ireland’s history of discarded bonesOpens in new window ]
A lack of burial records indicated the children could be buried at the site. A test excavation in 2016 and 2017 discovered a significant amount of human remains in what appeared to be a decommissioned sewage chamber.
Before its use as a mother and baby institution, the building operated as a workhouse from 1841 to 1918. The site was also used as a military base from 1918 to 1925 – during the War of Independence and Irish Civil War era – first by the British army and later by the Irish National Army.
The initial excavation has uncovered a number of other items, which date from each of the above time periods as well as materials from post-1961, after the mother and baby institution closed.
The team has uncovered numerous personal items from trenches dating from the institutional era, including shoes, glasses and baby bottle feeders.
The lower soil layers in these trenches contained glass bottles, probably predating the institution, possibly military era, and a chamber pot. Ancient and unrelated material, such as medieval pottery, has also been found mixed through the more recent deposits.
A “circular subterranean feature” that is “consistent with the location of a pump from the 19th-century mapping” was located, the team noted.
Large amounts of animal bone have also been retrieved. “Much of this is likely from the institution, military and workhouse kitchens,” the statement added.
