The sister of two boys born in the Tuam mother and baby home has launched a legal bid to force the State to carry out an inquest into their deaths.
Anna Corrigan’s brother, William Joseph Dolan, was reported as a missing person to the gardai by their sister in 2013 and John Desmond Dolan was reported as having died of neglect and malnutrition in 2014, while requests were made to the Attorney General to examine how the boys died.
Now leading human rights lawyer Kevin Winters has written to the AG and the gardai in a fresh bid to force them to launch inquests into the boys’ deaths.
Anna, from west Dublin, has described her brothers as two of Ireland’s longest missing children and believes they should be treated like others who have disappeared.
She said she was “horrified” at waiting almost nine years since she first made formal complaints to the State about the treatment of her siblings.
Recalling her first time going to gardai, she told the Irish Sunday Mirror: “I went because my brother William was marked as ‘dead’ in the nuns’ ledgers at Tuam but he had no death certificate, no medical certification of death, no reason for death, no medical records, nothing.
“His date of birth was changed by a month and a day in paperwork I found, and my mother’s date of birth was changed by three years. I received all of this documentation long before the story of Tuam broke in May 2014.
“When important details regarding a child changed in the adoption community, I believe that shows something wrong has happened with the child, possibly an illegal adoption, and as my mother Bridget passed on by the time I made this discovery, I had to probe further.
“A family member eventually then told me that my mother believed he was adopted Stateside.
“With no remains or a grave, what am I supposed to do with this?
“I was not involved in the Commission of Inquiry into Mother and Baby homes, I looked after my missing brothers’ cases myself and made complaints to the authorities separately.”
A birth and death certificate for Anna’s brother John Desmond shows he was born healthy and almost 9lbs in weight, but at 13 months he was described as “emaciated”.
She said: “John died at 16 months old and was described as a ‘congenital idiot’ and had the measles.
“I went to the gardai in 2014 about him and I contend that John died from neglect and malnutrition, and there was a doctor in situ who was paid by the county council.
“All the nuns were nurses and not one shred of medical paperwork showing his deterioration from being normal and healthy to a congenital idiot is available to me.
“I believe he was neglected and died from neglect and malnutrition. That’s two complaints I’ve made, and they were sent to Tuam gardai and the failure of the Attorney General and the gardai to act is a disgrace.
“I went to the Attorney General in 2014 through a solicitor to ask her to act but her department deferred. So, we’ve gone back to the AG now. I want them to act.”
In a letter to the Attorney General dated 28 February 2022 and seen by the Sunday Mirror, KRW Law requested that a direction be made into the death of John Desmond Dolan.
The legal first has made submissions to the AG to re-visit the decision not to direct an inquest into the death and disposal of John Desmond.
In a statement, Christopher Stanley, Litigation Consultant, KRW LAW LLP said: “KRW is proud to be assisting Anna Corrigan in her renewed attempt obtain a direction from the Attorney General to direct an inquest into the death and disposal of her infant brother John Desmond Dolan, one of the 796 Tuam babies.
“We are also approaching Garda Commissioner Harris to establish the status – if any – of a police investigation into criminality at Tuam and other institutions – and the disappearance of her other brother William Joseph Dolan.”
The forthcoming burials legislation has been criticised by the UN which has requested the Irish Government establish inquests into all victims of the mother and baby homes and other institutions through Ireland.
Bridget Dolan’s story as a single mother who was forced to give up two children is revealed in the book My Name is Bridget, which was published in 2018 by Gill.
John is believed to be one of the children who are lying in a septic tank on the grounds of the old Mother and Baby Home, which was run by the Bon Secours Order.
Anna said she has “no intention” of giving up her battle to find her missing brothers.
She will be speaking at the opening of the Stay With Me Art Show, in honour of the Tuam babies, at the Mansion House on Tuesday, March 8, for International Women’s Day.
