There's no defense, Musket - and apparently Tuam was not the worst of these mother-and-baby homes. I wouldn't dream of attempting to defend these homes, or the industrial schools, or the Magdalene Laundries - or the priests who molested children.

But I do believe that the entire situation must be studied methodically and honestly. There's no room here for hysteria. We need to have a real understanding of the situation. We need to know what really happened. Trumped-up charges of 796 bodies dumped into a septic tank, simply serve to obscure the important truth that these institutions systematically mistreated children.

On the Mother/Baby Home Research group on Facebook, Catherine Corless said she did her research and collected death certificates so a memorial could be erected at the graveyard at the Tuam home, listing the names of the children who were buried there. So, it appears that there is a graveyard, but the graves are unmarked or inadequately marked.

Corless did a lot of good research into the story of the Tuam home and conditions there, and it appears that conditions were certainly poor. If you have Facebook this link should get you to the group. Take the time to read what Corless wrote.

-Joe-