Bessborough Survivors Vow to Chain Themselves to Diggers to Halt Apartment Development

Survivors of the Bessborough mother and baby home in Cork have vowed to take drastic action, including chaining themselves to diggers, to prevent the construction of apartments on the site where hundreds of children and women died.

More than 250 people gathered at a vigil in Bessborough, Blackrock, Cork, to commemorate the lives of 923 children and 31 women who died while residing at the institution between 1922 and 1998. Of the children, only 64 are known to have graves, leaving the whereabouts of many others unknown.

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If this decision goes against us on July 9th, we are not done fighting.

Developer Estuary View Enterprises received planning permission from Cork City Council to build 140 apartments on the land. However, appeals have been lodged by the Bessborough Mother and Baby Home Support Group and Labour councillor Peter Horgan. A decision on these appeals is expected on July 9th.

Noelle Brown, a Social Democrats councillor born at Bessborough, urged attendees to contact public representatives and the planning commission to voice their opposition. "If this decision goes against us on July 9th, we are not done fighting," she declared, referencing a previous protest where chaining oneself to machinery was suggested. Carmel Cantwell of the Bessborough Mother and Baby Home Support Group emphasized that the land should be preserved as a "national site of conscience," noting that 859 children have no burial records and that witnesses reported children being buried on the grounds. She also paid tribute to survivor Maureen Casey, who recently passed away.

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The land itself holds the truth. These buildings, these fields hold stories and secrets and the remains of our family members.