If you've seen the Judy Dench film Philomena, you'll be familiar with the Magdalene laundries - institutions for "fallen women" that operated from the 18th to the late 20th century. They were particularly prevalent in Ireland, where an estimated 30,000 women were confined.
Last Monday, excavators began work at St. Mary's Mother-and-Baby Home in Tuam where unmarried pregnant women were sent to give birth from 1925 to 1961.
Experts from several countries are working together to search for and identify the remains of hundreds of babies and young children who died there.
Sarah-Anne Buckley is an internationally recognised scholar in the field of modern Irish social history. She joins Mihingarangi to discuss this unprecedented excavation project.
Photo: Supplied
