JUDGE Adjourns Case of Man Who Believes His Sister Died in Tuam

By Aodhan O'Faolain
Irish Times
March 13, 2017

http://www.irishtimes.com/news/crime-and-law/courts/high-court/judge-adjourns-case-of-man-who-believes-his-sister-died-in-tuam-1.3008790

Historian Catherine Corless with a list of the names of missing children from the mother-and-baby home run by the Bon Secours nuns in Tuam. Photograph: Peter Nicholls/Reuters

An application by a man seeking information about his infant sister, who is believed to have died in the Tuam Mother and Baby Home, has been adjourned at the High Court for a further week.

Peter Mulryan (73), of Derrymullen, Ballinasloe, Co Galway, whose sister Marian Bridget Mulryan is believed to be among 796 children recorded as having died at the home, has initiated proceedings against Tusla aimed at getting any information that may exist about her.

A Marian Bridget Mulryan is recorded as having died in February 1955, nine months after she was born at the home.

Mr Mulryan went to the Tuam home with his mother just days after his birth in July 1944. His mother later appeared to have gone to a Magdalene institution and he was fostered out at the age of four.

Mr Mulryan, represented by Deirdre O’Donohoe BL, is arguing that the records are unreliable and he wants Tusla to carry out a forensic examination of material concerning the home to establish what happened to his sister.

Records

Tusla has said it has given Mr Mulryan any material it is aware of and has also made the records held by it available to the Commission of Investigation into Mother and Baby Homes. The commission recently confirmed “significant” amounts of human remains were found on the site of the Tuam home.

The matter has been before Mr Justice Richard Humphreys a number of times and adjourned for reasons including a direction from the judge to Tusla to write to the Bon Secours order, which operated the home, asking if it held any burial records.

In a reply to Tusla, the order said it was unaware of any burial records being maintained and also said any information held by it concerning the Tuam home had been passed to the commission.

On Monday, Tusla, represented by Mary Phelan BL, reiterated that it would facilitate an inspection by Mr Mulryan of the material in its possession, including documents scanned by the commission.

The judge said he was considering how best to proceed, including whether there should be a “telescoped” hearing where the application for leave for the judicial review would be merged into a full hearing.

He again adjourned the matter to allow Mr Mulryan’s side to consider if they wished to make amendments to the statement of grounds.