A shower of soft rain begins to fall. I walk down the fields to the daffodil plot. It is a transient picture of golden daffodils nestling under the cover of the wood. The droplets glisten on their sodden heads. I wonder if there is a daffodil for every little baby hidden in the crevices beneath the ground behind the former Tuam, mother and baby home.

The catacombs of Rome come to mind – the thought inspired by the revelation of up to 20 underground chambers filled with human baby remains. I’m deeply saddened by the magnitude of this latest discovery of the Commission of Investigation into Mother and Baby Homes across Ireland. I fear it is only the beginning of a saga that will continue to shock us.

Reports suggest that there may be as many as 6,000 babies discovered once Bessborough in Cork, Sean Ross Abbey in Roscrea and the remainder of the 14 homes and four county homes listed under the Commission’s current investigation are documented.

Catherine Corless, historian, discovered the names of 796 baby deaths in Tuam.

She paid €4 for most of the death certificates in order to verify her research. At least their identities have been preserved. We owe her a huge debt. Each infant was apparently wrapped and hidden underground at the rate of one every two weeks, representing a much higher mortality rate than otherwise in Ireland at the time.

A DAFFODIL FOR EVERY BABY

I bend to pick a bunch of daffodils. I contemplate picking one daffodil for each of the 796 babies. I think better of it. I feel helpless. I wish there was something I could do.

The babies’ names filled our TV screen in the living room during the week. It was poignant, especially as two of the babies, Dolores and Mary, were born and died the same year as Tim and I were born.

People claim not to have known what went on behind those walls. Yet girls that went into mother and baby homes came home as mothers changed forever. It is tragic that their families and society forced them to do this. It is tragic that they could not admit what had happened to them or protest when their babies were stolen, neglected or sold.

These mothers had their babies wrenched from their arms. They have suffered a lifetime of regret. I think of the lost potential of the little ones and the cruelty they endured at the hands of church-led institutions. How could we have thought that it was okay? How could I have lived through a parallel childhood and not know how these women and their babies were treated.

I remember being in the car one day when my mother told me that a girl we knew had gone away to have a baby in a home for unmarried mothers.

I was shocked because I remember exactly where we were on the road. I don’t remember the rest of the conversation but I wonder why I never talked about it again or never asked questions and never discussed it with my friends. Society was truly conditioned. The least we can do now is listen and become informed about this particular chapter of dark history.

The inner turmoil for some women and children must be horrendous as this news breaks and the search for the truth continues. We have nothing to offer except our understanding, our compassion and our guilt.

It is noteworthy that the names of some of the babies were recorded. Consequently, Catherine Corless was able to uncover them and so lay bare the true shame of Ireland’s treatment of mothers and their babies born out of wedlock.

We cannot begin to imagine what kind of mindset these nuns who managed this practice were in as they went about the daily business of running the home. They must have known it was wrong. Some of them are still alive. Why don’t they speak out, apologise even?

There has been blame apportioned to the Catholic Church and to the State. Both are culpable. But society must also wear the cloak of shame. I’m sad to say that I was part of that society which kept a mental tally of those “who had to be married”.

How dare we judge others who were about to bring a beautiful little baby into the world? The word shame is one that should never have been used in relation to pregnancy. The word illegitimate should never have been attributed to the children. We condoned it. We perpetrated it. Every one of these babies had a father. Where was he?

I’m ashamed, embarrassed and as guilty as anyone else in front of the world. I am truly sorry that women and babies suffered so much. The Commission of Inquiry must be compelled to finish its work in Tuam in a timely fashion.

Rather than extending the remit, other inquiries must be convened to reveal the extent of this sorry saga. Diarmuid Ferriter, UCD, asked the questions on Prime Time: “Where are the records, who are the custodians of the records and when will they be in the public domain?” I concur.

TODAY

More importantly, we must be vigilant about how we treat children and vulnerable people today. Make no mistake, there are babies, vulnerable children, people with disabilities and elderly people still in need of State care. Are they then safe? How do we know?

It is incumbent on us to ask the right questions and to probe for answers. We all have a responsibility to ensure that we have a truly caring society and that the abuses of the past can never happen to any human being in our country again. CL