INTERVIEW
Survivor stories: preserving the past for future generations
Archives at the National University of Ireland, Galway, are playing a role in the investigations that helped unearth the truth about a bleak period in Galway’s history – The Tuam Mother and Baby Home. Ahead of an appearance at CILIP in Scotland’s annual Conference, Archivist at the university’s Hardiman Library, Dr Barry Houlihan, tells Rob Green about his involvement in the ongoing project to ensure the stories of those affected by the scandal are preserved.
DR Barry Houlihan’s work at Hardiman Library, University of Ireland, Galway, focuses on building collections that align with “our regional distinctive- ness in the West of Ireland, in terms of Irish language, landscape and culture, as well as on other key strands relat- ing to archives of Irish theatre and literature, Northern Irish politics and conflict, and oral history”. That notion of reflecting the themes that are important for the region came into sharp focus over the last decade, when research by Catherine Corless made clear the extent of maltreatment of women and children within the Tuam Home, as well as the evidence of poor burial practices for the children who died there. The story came to global attention in 2015 when The New York Times wrote an extensive story on the scandal. The Tuam Home was one of many established across Ireland early in the 20th century. Unmarried mothers were forced into the homes by pressure and stigma of Church and State in society and from where children were forcibly given up for adoption or fostering. What emerged from Tuam would shock the world as local historian, Dr Catherine Corless’s research revealed that hundreds of children from the home had been buried within a septic tank on the grounds of the home and without proper certification, and thousands more had been adopted against their mothers’ wishes.
46 INFORMATION PROFESSIONAL
Rob Green (
rob.green@
cilip.org.uk) is Editor, Information Professional.
Stigma and pressure
Dr Houlihan said: “The Tuam Mother and Baby Home was one of many such Homes around Ireland. Tuam Home closed in 1961. Unmarried mothers and pregnant women were forced into such homes in their thou- sands throughout the 20th century (the last such home closed in 1998) largely under the stigma and pressure of the Catholic Church
April-May 2021
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