Catherine Corless slams ‘horrible’ govt scheme, hopes her new film will inspire change

Catherine Corless spoke to JOE at the premiere of her powerful new drama.

Monica Dolan (Rialto) plays Corless in the film. It details how, in the early 2010s, the history enthusiast began researching the nearby, former Bon Secours Mother and Baby Home in Tuam, Galway. This was as part of a class project for a local history society.

Through this work, she uncovered the devastating possibility that as many as 796 children had been buried in unmarked graves on the property.

"The discovery began a campaign for justice for both victims and survivors of the home that has had a lasting impact on Ireland today," the plot synopsis adds.

Watch the trailer for The Lost Children of Tuam right here:

Thanks to Corless' discovery, work is ongoing to excavate the site of the former mother and baby home in Tuam.

In 2024, the Irish Government also introduced the Mother and Baby Institutions Payment Scheme, a redress scheme for people who spent time in a mother and baby home or county home institution in Ireland.

On the red carpet for The Lost Children of Tuam, JOE asked Corless about the changes she hopes the film will inspire.

She told us: "I am hoping that it will just keep the story out there for other, other places.

"There is Bessborough [another mother and baby home] in Cork that needs help at the moment to retrieve 900 babies missing. And it's worse there because they're trying to build apartments where the babies are. The babies are there somewhere.

"But I am delighted that it has come to this [the film being released]. Having a film about the whole thing, I know it will open up a whole lot of avenues for the others.

"Tuam is a continuation. It may need two more years to continue what they have done, and I think it really shows the world it shouldn't have happened. It was wrong, and may it never happen again.

"So I am very happy that this film has been made and that it'll be distributed for everyone to see."

Monica Dolan as Catherine Corless in The Lost Children of Tuam

JOE then asked Corless for her opinion on the mother and baby home redress scheme from the government, which has been criticised for being exclusionary.

"Yeah, there is a lot excluded. The government decided that babies up to six months old wouldn't remember a thing, but we know better now. We know babies from the very start, from when they're born, that they know their mother and that they will know the difference.

"It was just a horrible law that [was] brought in. It's just money-saving, that's all it is for the government.

"A lot of people didn't get any redress. It was really a very small amount to give all the survivors for what they went through, a pittance really.

"So, that won't change. It's done now, I suppose, but at least this film is out there, and it will keep the story alive."

Catherine Corless speaking to JOE

We also asked The Lost Children of Tuam's director, Frank Berry (Aisha, Michael Inside), about the changes he hopes the film brings about.

"Well, I think there there's a number of changes. I hope people will see the film and realise the importance of memorialising and remembering lost children from religious institutions throughout Ireland, not just mother and baby homes," he explained.

"We hope that it'll encourage people to talk about their own experiences. Because beneath the surface in Ireland there's a lot of hurt.

"I've been making this film since 2021, and you talk to a lot of people when you're making a film about the subject of what you're doing, and you just get a feeling about just the sheer scale of hidden pain across Ireland.

"What Catherine has done is she's encouraged survivors of institutions to talk and she's facilitated communication. I hope that continues because that's how we heal. We heal by letting air at the wounds. And that's one of Catherine's great achievements.

"Obviously, what's happening in Tuam is incredible. In addition to that, a huge achievement from Catherine is she's helping [with] much-needed healing."

The Lost Children of Tuam will be released in Irish cinemas on Friday, 25 September.