Irish actor Liam Neeson announced on RTE’s Late Late Show that he has been working on a film project about the Tuam children scandal for 3 years. A long-awaited project that would reveal the horrifying true story of an Irish motherhouse run by the Catholic Church of Ireland.
The purpose of this establishment was to take in mothers-to-be in difficulty, and place their unborn children with so-called “suitable” families. Recent excavations of the facility, carried out between 2014 and 2016, have uncovered the bones of almost 800 children, all of whom died between 1925 and 1961 as a result of neglect and other forms of abuse. A macabre discovery that shook the whole of Ireland.
The Church of Ireland continues to be plagued by scandal… After accusations of incest and paedophilia, and the dramas denounced around the laveries convents, the Tuam orphanage is now delivering a real coup de grâce to the Irish church.
Although Ireland is a deeply Catholic country, it would seem that recent scandals have plunged the Irish population into a real crisis of faith.
And veteran Irish actor Liam Neeson is determined to shed light on this thorny issue.
I discovered this case in a New York Time article by journalist Dan Barry. I read it and couldn’t find the words. I’m Irish and was raised in a very strong Catholic tradition. I was filled with emotion. I was filled with horror and I was filled with embarrassment. said the actor on the Irish Late Late Show. For the first time in my life, I’d never felt like that before. I was lying on my bed, straightened up and thought I absolutely had to do something about it. Regardless of my celebrity status in the film world, I intend to do something.
On the TV show, Liam Neeson explains that he met Catherine Corless, the eminent historian who revealed Tuam’s history.
She told me all about this terrible story. So we’re going to make this film. We’ve got a great scriptwriter on board, and I’ve told Catherine to be patient with us because the shooting process can take a long time. For example, Schindler’s List took 10 years until we had a script. But I assure you… This “Tuam Babies” film won’t take 10 years. It’s already been three, and we’re very close to completion. Let’s hope that maybe in a year’s time, we’ll start production to tell the story to the world.
These statements caused quite a stir in Ireland, but also in Hollywood. Revealing such a scandal on the international stage could deal another fatal blow to the Church of Ireland, and raise awareness of Ireland’s past. All the more reason to focus attention on the project!
We’ll have to be patient, but Liam Neeson was particularly confident: the film will probably start in 2022. To be continued!
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