Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 4 March 2026
224. Deputy Mairéad Farrell asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality if the Government will fully investigate and, if necessary, excavate the Angels' Plot burial ground at Sean Ross Abbey in order that the children who died there can finally be found, and their mothers told the truth. [17277/26]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe investigation of burial arrangements in Mother and Baby institutions, including the former institution at Sean Ross Abbey, was an important part of the work of the Commission of Investigation into Mother and Baby Homes.
The Commission, which had specific investigative powers, directed a forensic investigation of the burial ground at the Sean Ross Abbey site. It did this in response to information that it had received that the graveyard, when still in use, had drainage works inserted through it and that, based on this assertion, there may be no remains at the site and it may never have been used as a graveyard.
Site surveys, reviews of planning files and an independent drain inspection was followed by a forensic-standard test excavation, with multiple trenches opened in areas across the site where anomalies were identified by the surveys. The investigation found that coffined infant burials were located across the designated burial ground and that these had not been impacted by drainage works. The Commission concluded that no further investigation was warranted. The report of the investigation, which details the objectives, methodology and results, was published in full in the Commission’s final report, with the survey and drain inspection reports included as appendices.
Following publication of the Commission’s final report, the previous Minister for Children engaged with a local group in relation to their concerns that an area beyond the acknowledged burial ground at Sean Ross Abbey may also contain graves. In 2023, funding was provided to the group for them to undertake a survey of the land in question, land that was not subject to forensic investigation by the Commission. That survey showed no clear evidence of burials.
