From Tuam to Bessborough with Love: Commemorative walk will link notorious mother and baby institutions

A 220km commemorative walk, From Tuam to Bessborough with Love, linking two of Ireland’s most notorious former mother and baby institutions, will reach Cork at around 5pm on Sunday afternoon.

The walk is a three-day event, which will take place from Friday to Sunday, connecting the former Tuam mother and baby institution in Co Galway with the former Bessborough mother and baby institution in Cork.

The walk is being led by Anne Fahey Ronayne of Claremorris who, in 2023, completed 796 climbs of Knockma, a hill near Tuam, in memory of the 796 children who died at the institution.

More than a decade ago, Galway historian Catherine Corless discovered that no burial records could be found for the 796 infants who died there.

A State-commissioned agency, known as the Office of the Director of Authorised Intervention, Tuam, subsequently discovered almost 100 sets of infant remains on the site of the former grounds.

In 2021, the Commission of Investigation into Mother and Baby Homes found that 923 children died at Bessborough or after discharge. Burial records for 859 children and 19 women were missing, and the commission found that it was “highly likely” some had been buried on the institution’s grounds.

In July, An Coimisiún Pleanála upheld planning for 106 apartments on Bessborough’s former grounds, sparking a renewed campaign by survivors.

Last month, Taoiseach Micheál Martin said he had asked Cork City Council to engage with the owners of the lands to “explore all options for the future of the site”.