Thousands of babies could be buried in mass graves on National Children’s Hospital grounds

It was previously reported that there could have been a paupers' grave and workhouse on the site, operating in the 1600s and 1700s, though an environmental impact study at the site found no evidence of graves.

However, speaking to the Irish Examiner, Gilroy explains that the presence of the foundling hospital on the site and the enormous death rate among those at the hospital indicates a high likelihood of thousands of children being buried there.

According to Gilroy, who researched the hospital site's horrendous past, the rate of deaths there “bordered on corporate-engineered genocide."

Of the 52,150 infants admitted to the Dublin foundling hospital between 1796 and 1826, a total of 41,524 died, Gilroy found.

And of the 5,216 infants sent there between 1790 and 1796, just three survived.

The archaeologist came across horrific reports relating to the times, including one written in 1876 by the 'Inspector of Foundlings' William Dudley Wodsworth.

“It tells the deeply disturbing history of Dublin’s foundling hospital," said Mr Gilroy.

"I wish to point out that much of what is contained in the report makes for very distressing reading. At one stage, the matron insisted on a pay rise because of the trauma she endured regularly watching the bodies of infants being thrown into pits and covered with lime."

The foundling hospital operated for nearly 140 years from 1702 until the introduction of the Poor Law Act in 1838.

“During that time, it's estimated almost 200,000 children, mostly infants, passed through its gates,” said Mr Gilroy.

The idea behind the establishment of the foundling hospital was to 'prevent exposure, death, and actual murder of illegitimate children' and to educate and rear them in the Reformed, or Protestant, faith."

Such was the demand that in 1730, the authorities created a ‘cradle or turning wheel’ in the door of the hospital.

“Anyone wishing to leave an infant there merely placed the child in the cradle,” said Mr Gilroy.

A simple mechanism allowed the cradle to be rotated through the doorway, taking the child inside. A bell was then rung to alert the porter.

"Children from all parts, north, east, west, and even from Wales were sent to it.”

Gilroy says believes that a “sensitive” memorial should be built on the site in recognition of the huge number of infants who died there.