In the first half of the last century
Hundreds of children painfully died and were buried inhumanely and disrespectfully in Tuam. The discovered bodies of these burials were children under the care of Bon Secours nuns in a former Catholic orphanage in Ireland (O'Reilly 2). While many stories tell divergent perspectives of these deaths, their major causes were misinformation, societal discrimination, neglect from the government, and the excessive authority and power wielded by the Catholic Church at the time.
The first outstanding cause of these deaths
Was a combination of two factors; misinformation and societal discrimination. There was an overwhelming belief at the time that sex outside marriage was excessive shame on the women involved and their children. This was extended to the society at large. This is the reason a piece by O'Dowd explains that single mothers and their children at the time were hidden at all costs. A proof of this belief can be drawn from a quotation by Dr. Ella Webb, who proposed that it would have been kinder if the children were strangled at the time instead of being exposed to shame (1). It is likely that the fear of shame made many mothers take their children to such orphanages even in the face of the danger of the death of the children.
In an analysis by Barry
Neglect from the government and an indication of the excessive authority and power wielded by the Catholic Church at the time play roles as factors that fueled the death of these children. Before being unearthed by a journalist and independent persons, the author indicates that the county authorities, the church, and other parties were informed about the occurrences, yet did nothing about it. Perhaps, such orphanages were viewed as reprieve for the single mothers who would then leave their children (1). If the government had been concerned about these cases, a proper audit and setting of conditions for orphanages to operate would have been done. This was not.
In sum
Misinformation, societal discrimination, neglect from the government, and the excessive authority and power wielded by the Catholic Church are the factors responsible for the deaths of the children at Tuam.
Works Cited
Barry, Dan. "The Lost Children of Tuam". The New York Times. Nytimes.Com, 2017, https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/10/28/world/europe/tuam-ireland-babies-children.html. Accessed 19 June 2018.
O'Dowd, Niall. “Tuam Babies: “Kinder To Strangle These Children at Birth”. Irish Central. Irishcentral.Com, 2017, https://www.irishcentral.com/news/tuam-babies-it-would-be-kinder-to-strangle-these-illegitimate-children-at-birth. Accessed 19 June 2018.
O'Reilly, Alison. My Name is Bridget: The Untold Story of Bridget Dolan and the Tuam Mother and Baby Home. Dublin: Lightning Source Inc, 2018.
