Macabre find is made during excavation at Irish house of horrors mother and baby burial site where 800 corpses are feared to be buried

A team excavating at the site of a former Irish mother-and-baby institution have found seven sets of what they believe to be infant remains.

The Office of the Director of Authorised Intervention Tuam (ODAIT) began their mass excavation of the burial site in Tuam, County Galway, with the objective of identifying the remains of children and babies. 

It is currently unclear whether the bones they have uncovered date back to when the institution was open or from an earlier period. 

St Mary's Home operated from 1925 until 1961 and was run by the Bon Secours Sisters. Pregnant women out of wedlock were kept away in the home and post-birth, newborns were often given up for adoption. 

The home came under international controversy in 2014 after local historian Catherine Corless noticed there were no burial records accounting for the 796 death certificates of the infants who died there. 

ODAIT said the seven sets of remains were next to a different 'vaulted structure' on the western edge of the site where excavation is being completed by hand.

The agency confirmed a full analysis will be carried out to estimate age at death which can take up to three months. 

Prior to the site being utilised to house unmarried mothers and their infants, it was a workhouse for 80 years and was later used as military barracks for another seven years - and so, the agency cannot yet confirm which era these remains are from.

Diggers have found a further two set of remains, which are thought to be from the workhouse era, and have recovered five skeletons in the same location earlier in the excavation process.

ODAIT said it is cooperating with the National Museum of Ireland as the organisation has responsibility for historic human remains.

'Significant quantities of human remains' in underground chambers were found in 2017, following an inquiry set up by the Irish government. 

The mass excavation started in July and is expected to last until 2027 with follow-up work continuing for another three years. 

Experts from the United States, Canada, and Spain have joined forces with the ODAIT team in Tuam to help entirely uncover the mass burial site.

The agency has previously remarked the complexity of the task 'is unique as we are dealing with so many sets of infant remains'.

The grounds are monitored on a 24-hour basis to ensure forensic integrity during the process.

A week before the works began, families and survivors of the St Mary's Home institution visited the grave site to pay their respects.