Bessborough victims to be remembered
“My mother lost her baby in Bessborough and although it was a horrific experience for her, it was the last place she saw her baby alive.”
The words of Carmel Cantwell whose brother William died at the Bessborough Mother and Baby Home in Cork in the 1960s. He was one of 923 children to die at the home.
This Sunday, many of those with connections to Bessborough, including survivors born in the home, will gather on the grounds to commemorate the women and children who died there.
“To visit there has been very important to us,” Ms Cantwell told the Cork Independent.
“We started gathering there in 2014, just prior to the Tuam story breaking, and ever since then we've kept going to highlight the number of babies that died that were never recognised and never got a burial, like my brother,” she said.
Until 2019, Carmel and her mother believed that William was buried somewhere on the 210 acre site at Bessborough.
She said: “For 28 years or so we believed he was actually buried in the graveyard in Bessborough. It was just a piece of paper that came to light in 2019 which said that he was buried in Carr’s Hill.
“He's in an unmarked grave we're told,” Ms Cantwell added.
With 150 of the 210 acres of land at Bessborough now built upon, Ms Cantwell and a team of advocates, adoptees, and survivors are desperate to save the remaining 60 acres to serve as a permanent place of remembrance.
“I know there's a housing crisis and people might hope that the land might be used for that, but I'm saying just keep this last remaining 60 acres in memory of those who died,” said Ms Cantwell.
The land is currently subject to a live planning application which Ms Cantwell and her colleagues have vowed to continue to fight.
She continued: “The developers who own the remaining grounds; in their plans they actually catered for a remembrance park, but my gripe with that is, the area preserved because it's part of the landscape of Bessborough House, and I can guarantee you there was not one baby buried in front of the front door.
“I think it should be given back to the community. There are derelict farm buildings that could be renovated and given back to the public; it could be youth centres; you could make a nice community park there; you could have a beautiful remembrance park.
“You could plant more trees; one for each child that died would be nice,” added Ms Cantwell.
Earlier this month, work began on the excavation of a mass burial site at a former mother and baby home in Tuam, county Galway, where the remains of almost 800 babies and children are believed to be buried. As of yet, no such excavation is planned for the Bessborough site.
“I've asked now three times for a Director of Authorised Intervention, like they have in Tuam, to look into Bessborough,” said Ms Cantwell.
“If we just say that there's a mass children's burial ground there without investigating it, that does the children a disservice.
“They need their truth told; they need their story told. Otherwise, we're not honouring them at all,” she concluded.
Sunday’s commemoration takes place at the Bessborough Centre in Blackrock, Cork city, from 2pm. PJ Coogan will emcee the event with guest speakers Dr Claire McGettrick and Prof. Katherine O’Donnell, and music by Karen, Christiana Underwood, and John O’Brien. All are welcome to attend the event.