Excavation work has commenced at the site of the former mother-and-baby home in Tuam, Co Galway.
The operation got under way at around 10.30am and the full excavation will be overseen by the Office of the Director for Authorised Intervention in Tuam (ODAIT).
The start of the effort to exhume and identify human remains from the site comes more than 11 years after research by Catherine Corless found that there were no burial records for almost 800 babies and infants who died at the home over a 36-year period.
It was operated by the Bon Secours Sisters, on behalf of Galway County Council, between 1925 and 1961.
Work carried out for the Commission of Investigation into mother-and-baby homes has already revealed the presence of "significant quantities" of bones in a number of underground chambers that formed part of a sewage system at the Tuam home.
ODAIT appointed a number of experts to carry out the task, which will take at least two years to complete.
The 5,000sq/m site, where the dig is taking place, is located in the centre of the Dublin Road Estate in Tuam.
It has been sealed off and placed under forensic control in recent weeks.
All recovered remains will be catalogued and, where possible, cross referenced with DNA samples from relatives of those who died in the home, in an effort to identify them.
The excavation will work towards a memorial garden, where there are known to be remains.
Initial excavations are to be carried out around a playground and green area that is adjacent to the garden.
Layers of soil will be removed, with forensic archaeologists monitoring the dig at all times.
It is envisaged that teams will work in two separate areas at a time, in an effort to expedite the process.
The ODAIT cautioned that the scale of the challenge it faces cannot be underestimated.
This is due in part to the size of the infant bones being sought and also because remains appear to have been mixed, or co-mingled, further complicating the process.
Managing expectations of families and survivors
Speaking on RTÉ's News At One, Associate Professor of History at the University of Galway Dr Sarah-Anne Buckley said that the team leading the excavation at Tuam have been "transparent" in order to manage expectations of families and survivors.
She praised the efforts of the ODAIT.
"I think (director) Daniel Mac Sweeney and his team have been very transparent to manage the expectations of families and survivors. They appear to be very clear about all of the work that they're undertaking," she said.
"But still, it will be very difficult to say how many they'll be able to identify.
"It's obviously a very difficult task, but they seem to be very open and very clear in how they're approaching it."
Dr Buckley said that she was hopeful that despite the long process, developments at Tuam could lead to other investigations opening.
"I would really hope that if this situation, as it appears, is being undertaken in such a good manner, that it would lead to other institutions being investigated. There’s Bessborough, there’s Sean Ross Abbey, there’s many others.
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"I know it's a long process. They're estimating 24 months, it obviously could take longer, but it would be really important to take the learnings from this, and to continue to communicate with all of those affected by the other institutions as well.
"I would hope that we are going to learn and deal with this process in a really open way," she added.
Dr Buckley said that a learning resource on Mother and Baby Homes that will appear on the Junior Certificate curriculum will lead to even more support.
"The NCAA web page, Tuam forms part of it, but so do other institutions. And it gives that context as to the many different people that are affected by this," she said.
"I have always argued that we don't have our national story until we fully include the lives and the experiences of those that interacted with and were forced into many of these institutions.
"To have younger generations and younger people looking around their local area, getting involved, learning how to research how to undertake oral history, I just think it's fantastic and it's another really welcome development."
