Forbes: Why That Story About Irish Babies In A Septic Tank Is A Hoax

Forbes ^ | 6/09/2014 | Eamonn Fingleton

[Mrs. Don-o]

Few of us are inclined to look a gift horse in the mouth, and that applies in spades to journalists running with a sensational news story. But even by normal media standards, recent reports about the bones of 796 babies being found in the septic tank of an Irish orphanage betray a degree of cynicism and irresponsibility rarely surpassed by allegedly reputable news organizations.

Although the media attributed the “dumped in a septic tank” allegation to Catherine Corless, a local amateur historian, she denies making it. Her attempt to correct the record was reported by the Irish Times newspaper on Saturday (see here) but has been almost entirely ignored by the same global media that so gleefully recycled the original suggestion.

Today the Irish Times has published a reader’s letter that has further undercut the story. Finbar McCormick, a professor of geography at Queen’s University Belfast, sharply admonished the media for describing the children’s last resting place as a septic tank. He added: “The structure as described is much more likely to be a shaft burial vault, a common method of burial ...in many parts of Europe.

“In the 19th century, deep brick-lined shafts were constructed and covered with a large slab which often doubled as a flatly laid headstone. These were common in 19th-century urban cemeteries…..Such tombs are still used extensively in Mediterranean countries. I recently saw such structures being constructed in a churchyard in Croatia. The shaft was made of concrete blocks, plastered internally and roofed with large concrete slabs.

[T]he verifiable facts that have emerged so far amount merely to a strong story for the media of one small country. The one “fact” that turned all this from a disturbing national story to a screaming global sensation is one that is almost certainly false.

[Mrs. Don-o]

But that wouldn't serve The Narrative: "Cruel sexually repressed Catholic nuns hate women, hate babies, and hate the God who made them."

Do you know, even my pastor assumed this story was true until I pointed out all the documentation that showed what was really going on. So I wrote a "debunker" story for the parish newsletter. Now, that leaves 17,482 other parishes in the US alone where shamefaced, suffering people are still thinking "Is this true? Could it be true? It must be true, I saw it on TV."

[Mrs. Don-o]

See #157 and #161. These are important.

There are vertical "shaft graves," also known as "pit graves," also known as "vertical pits," all over Ireland and in fact all over Europe. Each pit is a deep hole lined with bricks, then inside lined with plaster.

If refuse (including human waste) is put in it, it is known as a "waste pit."

If water starts seeping through while it's being dug, it is finished off as a "well."

If it is blessed and used for the interment of the mortal remains of a person or persons who have died, it is consecrated as a "grave."

The point being that these things are, structurally speaking, practically identical, distinguished only by use. And there is no way on God's Green Earth that nuns would have "thrown" or "dumped" bodies into a septic tank. They were interred in consecrated ground.

The ignorance --- and malice--- evinced in these "septic tank" articles is just astounding.

[HiTech RedNeck]

I couldn’t believe that any serious sister would purposely put bodies in a sewer or latrine. And neither did the author of the lead article, even though he was skeptical about nuns. I thought that possibly confusion could have arisen and the sisters thought the facility was something other than what it was currently configured to be. Although, active use as a sewer certainly would have produced an unmistakable smell that would not be the same as the smell of a mausoleum.

Anyhow, if questions are arising, someone trustworthy ought to investigate and settle the question. And if a genuine mistake was made, appropriate prayers be made or whatever it takes to satisfy people that proper reverence was paid to God concerning the bodies of the deceased.

But panicking like the sky had fallen hampers any kind of sane resolution.

[HiTech RedNeck]

And yes there does seem to be some flavor of “Oh those dastardly Catholics, we finally caught them.” That has no class. For segments of Christendom to hoot that the other segments are devoid of Christ and ought to be treated that way, is just blind bigotry. The Lord lets it happen, but it does not please Him.