Tuam ‘Baby’ Michael recalls his journey from Ireland to America

THIS story has a happy ending … well sort of, in that the man you are about to read about was born in Tuam’s St Mary’s Mother and Baby Home, walked with a limp, so was considered to have a disability, and in spite of being rejected several times by potential parents, was adopted by a couple who loved him and gave him and his brother a happy life in America.

Yet, he never met his biological mother.

Michael Byrne was born on July 22, 1957, in St Mary’s, Tuam, where he spent ten days. His biological mother was Annie Owens (Annie from now), who took him out of St Mary’s and brought him to Temple Hill, Dublin, where he spent over four years. The day I spoke to him he had just found that his biological father was John Harte.

“I was heartbroken so many times when I was rejected by couples who came to Temple Hill to adopt a baby. A few of us would be brought to a parlour, having been dressed in the best (to be taken off and put away after the visit), and looked at by the couple wanting to adopt.

For full feature, check out today's The Tuam Herald.