St Patrick’s Navan Road, Dublin, 1919-1998
Most of the 18,829 children admitted to St Patrick’s Navan Road were alone at the time of their deaths.
Originally known as Pelletstown and later operated as Eglinton House, this institution was run by the Daughters of Charity, who were employed by the relevant local authority at the time.
According to the commission’s report, between 1919 and 1998 a total of 15,382 women and 18,829 children entered here.
The facilities at Pelletstown were described as “inadequate”, with only four bathrooms for 140 women in 1950. In 1966, women slept in dormitories of 52 and 30 beds respectively which offered no privacy.
A total of 3,615 children died; 78% of the deaths occurred between 1920 and 1942, but unlike many mother and baby homes, the burials of these babies are properly recorded at Glasnevin Cemetery.
Belmont Flatlets, Donnybrook, Dublin, 1980-2001
This was not a traditional mother and baby home, but rather short-term hostel-type accommodation for a small number of women and children, around nine or ten at a time.
It was inaugurated by the Daughters of Charity and had financial support from the Eastern Health Board. The women lived independently, but were supported by social workers and public health nurses.
The commission stated: “The mothers were there with their babies and they left with their babies so that the issue of tracing would not have arisen.”
Kilrush Nursery, County Clare, 1922-1932
The commission estimates there were between 300 and 400 single mothers and a much larger number of children at the west Clare facility.
It was run by the Congregation of the Sisters of Mercy until 1928, and then by lay staff, and conditions were described as “very poor”, with leaking roofs, no toilets and no indoor sanitary facilities.
The mothers who lived there were also described as abandoned, without proper clothing or comfort of any kind.
However, the number of infant deaths at this institution is unknown, but the doctor described the mortality rate in 1927 as “appalling.”
Bessborough House, County Cork, 1922-1998
The burial sites of the 923 children who died here remain a mystery, largely due to the failures of local health authorities.
A total of 9,768 women and 8,938 children passed through the doors of the institution, led by the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary.
One young mother described how she was stripped of her name, her belongings and her life savings when she became a resident.
‘It would have been impossible to get out; “All our things had been confiscated, we had no clothes or money,” he said.
“From time to time they allowed us to go out, but we were always escorted by nuns… They made us march like soldiers.”
Sean Ross, Roscrea, County Tipperary, 1931-1969
The Sean Ross Mother and Baby Home was among the homes run by the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary.
In 38 years, 6,414 women were admitted and 6,079 babies were born there.
One such resident was Philomena Lee, whose story was made into an award-winning film in 2013. During her stay, her son was forcibly taken away from her by American parents and adopted in the 1950s.
A total of 1,090 of the 6,079 babies born or admitted to Sean Ross had died, but no burial records were kept.
However, there is a cemetery and the commission has established that the remains of some children under one year old are buried there in coffins.
Castlepollard, County Westmeath, 1935-1971
Several women told the commission of inquiry that they saw nuns leaving the hospital with up to ten dead babies in shoe boxes and taking them to be buried in a nearby field.
The burial sites were later marked by the presence of nails in the wall of a nearby cemetery.
The center was managed by the Congregations of the Sacred Heart and a total of 4,559 babies were born here, but there is no burial record for the 247 babies who died.
Regina Coeli, North Brunswick Street, Dublin, 1930-1998
A total of 734 children had died in this shelter with the peak of mortality occurring in the early 1940s.
A 1948 report stated that infant mortality at the center was three times higher than at Pelletstown and that the hostel lacked “almost all adequate facilities as regards both nursing and structure”.
Dunboyne, County Meath, 1955-1991
The Dunboyne Mother and Baby home had the highest proportion of women under 18, with minors making up 23.4% of admissions.
More than one in ten people admitted to Dunboyne were aged between 12 and 16, which was below the legal age of consent. There were a total of 3,156 mothers and 1,148 children, with 37 infant mortalities.
Bethany, Dublin City and Rathgar, 1922-1971
This facility was aimed primarily at Protestant women and a total of 262 children associated with Bethany Home in Dublin died. During its 50 years of operation in Blackhall Place and later in Rathgar, this mother and baby home accommodated 1,584 women and 1,376 children.
The commission found that the decision not to admit more Catholic women meant that it was less overcrowded than the other mother and baby homes in the 1940s.
Other houses mentioned in the report included: Denny House (formerly Magdalen Asylum), 1765-1994; Miss Carr’s Flatlets, Dublin, 1972-present; St Gerard’s, Dublin, 1919-1939; County Cork Home, 1921-1960; County Kilkenny Home, Thomastown, 1922-1960.