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Mother and Baby Home in Tuam, Co Galway
I saw an exchange yesterday which suggested that someone was looking into the above establishment. I am ytrying to trace my birth-institution. I only have 'Tuam' to go on and the fact that I was illegitimate and it was an institution run by nuns.
Anyone got any ideas about how I might track this institution down?
Maria
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Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Annemarie on
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Dear Maria, in order to help what year are we talking about, much depend of when this was
If you like you can email : kalishoek@eircom.net
Annemarie
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Permalink Reply by Maria Ellen McKay on
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Thank you, Annemarie. The year of my birth was 1947. I should appreciate any further help or comments you could make on this.
Maria
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Hi Maria, I just came across your message and am wondering if you have got any further with your search?
I have done extensive research on the mother/baby Home in Tuam for an essay I wrote for a local historical Tuam Annual,
and have helped some former residents to locate relatives. I could perhaps help you if you so wish.
Catherine Corless
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Dear Vivianne,
It seems that your mother and I were born in the same institution back in 1947. My month of birth was September. When was your mothere born there and have you found out anything about the place yet - even its name or address would be a start for me.
Nice to be in contact with you.
Maria
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Hi Vivianne, I see you are on the first leg of your journey, well done.
The next step is to contact : 'Clann Adoption Services' Merlin Park, Galway. (091)775057.
They hold the records for the time the mother and baby spent in the Home in Tuam.
When the Home closed in Tuam (1925-1961) the sisters handed over their files to
the Western Health Board in Merlin Park Galway. The Home was knocked down in the 1970's
and a housing estate now stands on the grounds, except for a large area at the back which is
now a cemetery. There are many children buried there from infants up to the age of 8, and with
the help of a wonderful committee, we are currently involved in a project to have a special
memorial erected in dedication to those who are buried there. Also we intend listing all those
children who died in a special book.
Do get back to me again if you have any further questions, you should get most of the information
you need from the files.
Kind Regards,
Catherine.
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Dear Vivianne,
That is very helpful and it's very kind of you to take the time to share this information with me. I shall try that number tomorrow and let you know what happens.
Thanks,
Maria
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Dear Catherine,
Sorry not to get back to you sooner.
Unfortunately your reply came just two days after my mother's final illness and death, so my mind has naturally been on other things. But now I am even more determined to find out all I can about my origins. I hope to visit Tuam in the spring and would like to make some progress in my quest for information before then.
I should be very interested in any help you can give me indeed I should love to read your essay. I have studied and taught History throughout my teaching career, including the history of Ireland, so I would have no problem understanding your research. I'm sure that I would find it fascinating.
Looking forward to hearing back from you.
Maria
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Hi Maria, The information sent to you from Vivianne (above) will set you on the right trail,
also as I advised her, contact Merlin Park Galway at Clann Adoption Services, they will
have your file, you have a right to see it. When you visit Ireland in Spring, I would be
happy to show you the site of the old Home and the cemetery. If there is anything else
you need to know, do keep in touch.
Kind regards,
Catherine.
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Dear Catherine,
Thank you so much for your help and for the clearly very important work you are doing in connection with this very difficult subject. I shall indeed let you know when I am coming over and it is very generous of you to offer to show me around.
In the meantime, I have been doing some background reading, but it has been about the Magdalene Laundries and mostly down in Cork. I wonder if there is any literature about the homes in the region of Galway?
Best wishes for your committee and the memorial stone.
Kind regards,
Maria
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Hi again Maria, the Home in Tuam was the only mother/baby home for unmarried mothers
and it covered the whole of county Galway and Mayo. If you could forward me your email address,
or if this site has a private format for emails, I can forward you a copy of my research into the
Home in Tuam which was published in 2012 in essay form for the Tuam JOTS (Journal of the Old
Tuam Society) Annual.
Catherine
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Dear Catherine,
My email address is mariamky@gmail.com and I should love to read your research. I am also excited to know that there was only one home for County Galway as it increases the likelihood that I can track myself and my Mum back to it.
My only clues are:
That Tuam is the place of birth on my birth certificate and neither side of my family had any connections with the place as far as I am aware.
That the account of my birth given to me by my mother's sister when she was 'in her cups' one time many years ago was acknowledged to be true by my mother when I finally gathered up my courage to ask her about it some years later.
I knew that I was illegitimate from the age of ten onwards. I needed my birth certificate and in my search for it also found my parents' marriage certificate which showed that they were married in England more than a year after my birth in Ireland.
Speaking about these things was clearly taboo in my family; a taboo I respected until I was middle-aged. As the whole thing clearly caused my mother shame and stirred up bad memories, I never pushed her to tell me more and now I regret that as everyone who could have enlightened me is either dead or they have got dementia.
I'm sure this is a very typical pattern of events. I look forward to reading your research on this very important subject.
The most helpful reading I have done to-date has been, Frances Finnegan's Do Penance or Persish; Magdalene Asylums in Ireland (OUP 2004).
Best wishes,
Maria McKay
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