News Tuam Oral History Project and the Junior Certificate History Curriculum Resource on the Mother and Baby Institutions

On the 14^th May 2025, the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NCCA) published three modules addressing the history, legacy and literature of Ireland’s institutions – including the mother and baby institutions, industrial and reformatory schools and Magdalene laundries.

The History module and materials will examine Ireland’s ‘Mother and Baby Homes’, and have been designed for Junior Certificate students. They will engage with Catherine Corless’s work, as well as the testimonies and life experiences of survivors and affected, including individuals from the Tuam Mother and Baby Institution. In late 2023, the NCCA approached the TOHP asking to include it’s work and the experiences and voices of those affected as a case study in the History curriculum resource given the powerful nature of the testimonies, the resources on the webpage and the ethical co-creative approach. It is a hugely significant development, and we are privileged to see that the Tuam Oral History Project and a recent report on language, terminology and representation (https://www.universityofgalway.ie/cfrc/projects/currentprojects/languageterminologyandrepresentation/) that was co-authored by Dr Sarah-Anne Buckley have been included. The care the NCCA has taken with this module is also to be acknowledged, as is the work and advocacy from individual survivors who have shared their life stories and experiences to the betterment of us all.

A link to the Case Study can be found here - https://stories.universityofgalway.ie/ri-tuam-oral-history-project/index.html 

A link to the Journal.ie article can be found here - https://www.thejournal.ie/readme/mother-and-baby-homes-6-6706084-May2025/