'All lives must be equal in death': Survivors' groups to hold two Bessborough vigils

Two separate groups of survivors of Ireland’s mother and baby homes and other institutions will hold vigils this weekend in memory of the children and women who died in the former Bessborough mother and baby instution.

The events, which will be held on successive days, are being organised by two separate groups which favour differing approaches to the memorialisation of the trauma suffered by survivors.

The first vigil will take place on Saturday and is organised by survivors Catherine Coffey O’Brien, and Ann O’Gorman, who lost a child in the home.

Ms O’Gorman’s daughter Evelyn died at Bessborough and is believed to be buried there, but there are no burial records for the children on the grounds, and only one grave of a child has been located, following an examination of a section of land there.

Act of rememberance

In an invitation issued ahead of Saturday's vigil, Ms Coffey O’Brien stressed that the event is intended as an act of remembrance rather than a political statement.

“We have never been political, and we do not want this politicised,” she said. 

“This is about the babies and the girls who are buried in the children’s burial ground at Bessborough.”

She said the purpose of the gathering is to acknowledge the lives of those who died, regardless of how short their lives may have been.

Campaigners have long called for the children’s burial ground to be formally marked, preserved, and protected. Ms Coffey O’Brien said this remains their central objective.

All lives equal

“That’s all,” she said. “All lives must be equal in death.”

Organisers of Saturday’s vigil say members of the public are welcome to attend in a “spirit of respect and reflection”.

Bessborough was one of Ireland’s largest mother and baby institutions, and recorded one of the highest infant mortality rates in the country.

Survivors and relatives have campaigned for many years for greater recognition of those who died there and for protection of the burial site, but there is disagreement between the two groups.

Carmel Cantwell’s brother William died at Bessborough, but his grave cannot be located.

Ms Cantwell is part of a separate, larger campaign to stop a development of 140 housing units being built there after the city council gave developers the green light.

The larger group opposes any development of the Bessborough site, believing children could be buried anywhere on it, whereas the smaller group is focused on memorialisation of a small section of land, in the area of the nuns’ graveyard, which it believes is a children's burial ground.

Cork singer and actor Camille O’Sullivan, who will be performing at Sunday's vigil, said she hoped the event would be of benefit to survivors.

Really helpful

“I think it would be really helpful if they felt people were reaching out and saying: ‘We hear your story,’” she said.

Ms O’Sullivan said she had first become interested in the plight of survivors of mother and baby institutions through her friend Noelle Brown, a writer and actor who was born in Bessborough and now serves as a Dublin city councillor for the Social Democrats.

“I’ve known Noelle since I was a child, and she was one of the reasons I got up on stage and started acting,” she said.

“It was only a few years ago that I heard her story, and last year we worked on a show together.

“I was learning as I went, and I was shocked at the way in which survivors are still being treated, and I just think to shine a light on it is a very important thing to do.”

Sunday’s event will take place at 2pm in Bessborough.