Religious organisations could be forced to “surrender” burial records from Mother and Baby Homes if new Stormont legislation is passed.
That is according to a baby burial expert who’s research into grounds at Milltown in Belfast and Newry’s Marian Vale Mother and Baby Home has faced obstacles around missing documents.
Belfast based, forensic archaeologist Toni Maguire spoke to the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) this week as a Private Members Bill (PMB) in the Assembly looks to bring private owned cemeteries in to line with council graveyards.
Ms Maguire said: “In my experience, when you go to find the records at these private burial grounds, those institutions who own them in my experience try to muddy the waters.
“One of the things that sticks out when you do the research is that the extraordinary high number of infant deaths associated with institutions like the Mother and Baby Homes.
“But, why was it so high when they were supposedly being cared for?”
More than 10,000 women and girls from acorss the island fo Ireland were sent to Mother and Baby Homes, in Northern Ireland from the 1920 to 1990s, but incomplete records mean the figure may be higher.
The institutions were mainly run by the religious orders for unmarried mothers to have thier babies in secret to avoid social scandal of the day. The infants were mostly adopted with many mothers claiming the babies were taken away without consent, many other babies were stillborn are died soon after birth.
In Galway, work has begun to excavate a mass burial site at a Mother and Baby Home run by the Bon Secours Sisters.
The revelations about the burial ground came to international attention when a local historian, Catherine Corless, discovered there were death certificates for 796 children and infants, but no burial records.
Marian Vale Mother and Baby home Newry
Ms Maguire added: “When I was at Marian Vale Mother and Baby Home in Newry we found a baptism register, which made very interesting reading.
“It also showed babies being adopted out of the jurisdiction. So, is the high death rate in Mother and Baby Homes potentially cover for babies who were adopted out elsewhere?
“This is why it is so important to find the burials. If the records say a certain number of babies died and we can only find a lower number of burials, then where are the rest?”
“The whole legislation that would come in from the PMB would impact the scenario of missing burial sites.
“There are living parents who have been told they are not allowed to mark the site of their baby’s burial from Mother and Baby Homes, that must not be allowed to continue.”
Alliance MLA, Nuala McAllister’s Burial Protections Bill launched this week was prompted by her own mother’s experience, as she believes three stillborn siblings were buried in unmarked graves in Milltown Cemetery in West Belfast.
Under current legislation, only cemeteries and burial grounds owned by councils are subject to conditions such as repair and maintenance of graves, registering and recording burials, and the right to place memorials.
If passed, the North Belfast member’s PMB would mean private bodies such as churches would have to follow the same regulations.
The PMB is supported by Ms Maguire, who says: “Currently there are remains being put into so called new graves in Milltown. People are going in to debt and danger to pay for a grave thinking that the church will look after their family. But, when the rental period of 75 years is up, your time in that plot is up.
“There are claims that there are missing books of burial records in Milltown, leading on to say they don’t exist.
“Yet I have sworn affidavits from past members of gravediggers and administration staff who say they personally laid out those graves and buried remains on that land.
“So, who has been evicted so new burials can happen. Do people want a grave on those terms?
“The new bill would protect all those buried in a private cemetery with proper maps showing the location of graves, better record keeping and the surrendering of those records currently held by the churches and religious organisations.”
