Monica Dolan Stars In Tuam Mass Grave Drama At Galway Fleadh
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- Monica Dolan, BAFTA winner for Mr Bates vs The Post Office, stars in The Lost Children Of Tuam, with first footage unveiled ahead of its world premiere at the Galway Film Fleadh on Saturday 11th July.
- Frank Berry (Michael Inside) directs from a screenplay by Rebecca Lenkiewicz (The Salt Path), adapting Dan Barry's New York Times article about local historian Catherine Corless.
- Catherine Corless uncovered evidence that as many as 796 children were buried in unmarked graves at the Bon Secours Mother and Baby Home in Tuam, County Galway; excavation of the mass grave began in the summer of 2025.
- Andrew Bennett (God's Creatures) and Ian McElhinney (Game of Thrones) co-star in the drama.
- Liam Neeson optioned the rights to Barry's article and is producing through El Paso Productions alongside Jules Daly (Big Red Films), Ed Guiney and Andrew Lowe (Element Pictures), and Martina Niland (Port Pictures).
- Executive producers include Kristin Irving for BBC Film, Niamh Fagan for Screen Ireland, and Dan Barry himself, with the film presented by Screen Ireland and BBC Film in association with Fremantle, Coimisiún na Meán, and RTÉ.
- mk2 Films handles worldwide sales, while Volta Pictures Distribution will release the film in Ireland and the United Kingdom.
Why it matters: With excavation of the Tuam mass grave actively underway since summer 2025, the film arrives while physical evidence-gathering is still in motion, giving the project a news peg beyond standard awards-season promotion. Its Galway premiere places the screening in the county where the home stood, and the BBC Film/Screen Ireland/RTÉ consortium guarantees theatrical and broadcast reach across Ireland and the UK.
