Council passes motion urging government to release Bessborough burial records

A MOTION CALLING on the government to release unpublished technical archaeological reports concerning burials at the former Bessborough mother and baby home in Cork city passed unanimously on Monday evening. 

The motion before Cork City Council also called on the government to direct the Attorney General to open an inquest into the deaths at the site “as a matter of moral urgency.”

The motion, proposed by Labour Party councillor Peter Horgan also called for the unsealing of burial records held with the Commission of Investigation archive.

Horgan said he was “heartened” that city councillors in Cork had “again stood for those who went through Bessborough.”

Earlier this year, Estuary View Enterprises was granted planning permission by Cork City Council to build 140 apartments on the grounds of Bessborough in Blackrock on the southside of Cork city.

The councillors had no input on the decision. Appeals were lodged to An Coimisiún Pleanála.

On 9 July, the Commission upheld permission for the building of 108 apartments on the site. 

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The plans have faced fierce opposition from campaigners and survivors. Some have said they are prepared to chain themselves to diggers to prevent the building of apartments at the site.

The home was run by the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary and operated between 1922 and 1998.

The Commission of Investigation into Mother and Baby Homes’ report found almost 20,000 women and children were admitted during that time. It estimated that 923 children died while resident at Bessborough.

Only 64 have known graves, meaning the burial place of 859 children is unknown.

Some 31 women died in the mother and baby home, but the Commission only found death registration records for 29 of the women.

Carmel Cantwell of the Bessborough Mother and Baby Home Support Group, whose brother William died at the home, previously said the land should be preserved as a “national site of conscience”.

She said “859 of the children who were born [at Bessborough] have no burial record at all”, adding: “There has never been an exhaustive investigation to determine where they are buried. We have spoken to witnesses who saw children being buried here.

The land itself holds the truth. These buildings, these fields hold stories and secrets and the remains of our family members.”

With reporting from Jane Moore