IRELAND
Irish Examiner

Tuesday, March 07, 2017

By Conall Ó Fátharta
Irish Examiner Reporter

The names of almost 800 children who died in two of the country’s largest mother and baby homes were given to the HSE by a religious order in 2011.

This revelation shows the State was aware of the vast number of deaths in Bessborough in Cork and Sean Ross Abbey Roscrea three years before the Tuam babies scandal made global headlines.

The Irish Examiner has previously revealed that concerns over infant mortality rates and other practices at Tuam and Bessborough were raised by senior HSE personnel in 2012.

A report about concerns over Bessborough deaths was forwarded to both the Department of Health and the Department of Children and Youth Affairs that year.

The Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and Mary, which ran the homes, gave the registers to the HSE when…