To be defined as a ‘mass grave’ burials must take place over a short period of time. A place where burials take place over a number of years and decades is called a cemetery. It is very unlikely that there are 796 babies buried here either. No full excavation of the burial chambers has take place other than a superficial examination as it requires a change in the law. It was most likely used as a cemetery from 1938 to the end of the 1950s, the Tuam Children’s Home closed in 1961.