{"id":628974,"date":"2026-09-18T22:30:09","date_gmt":"2026-09-18T22:30:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/628974\/"},"modified":"2026-09-18T22:30:09","modified_gmt":"2026-09-18T22:30:09","slug":"liam-neeson-escorts-overwhelmed-catherine-corless-to-premiere-of-tuam-babies-film-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/628974\/","title":{"rendered":"Liam Neeson escorts \u2018overwhelmed\u2019 Catherine Corless to premiere of Tuam babies film \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

When Catherine Corless<\/a> was confronted by a phalanx of press cameras flashing wildly in the lobby of the Lighthouse Cinema in Smithfield at the premiere of The Lost Children of Tuam on Friday evening, she looked equal parts bedazzled and bemused. <\/p>\n

The presence of Liam Neeson<\/a>, who is a co-producer of the film, by her side as chaperone for the evening only added to her wide-eyed wonder.<\/p>\n

But despite the surreal nature of an opening night that would have been beyond imagining when she embarked on her historical research project in Galway more than 15 years ago, the fearless champion of the voiceless made sure of one thing.<\/p>\n

She made sure the babies whose bodies had been so carelessly discarded in unmarked graves in Tuam during one of the darkest periods of modern Irish history remained front and centre. <\/p>\n

The Lost Children of Tuam recounts how Corless was researching the Bon Secours mother and baby home<\/a> for a local historical society when she unearthed the grim reality that as many as 796 children may have been buried in unmarked graves at the site.<\/p>\n

[\u00a0Liam Neeson: \u2018I got angrier and angrier. I\u2019m an Irishman. I was an altar boy. But I was horrified\u2019Opens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

The story she uncovered \u2013 and the one that has been documented in the film \u2013 made headlines at home and abroad and led to a campaign seeking justice for victims and survivors as well as an extensive excavation of the site.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am quite nervous and overwhelmed. I have never been at anything like this,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n

\u201cBut it is for the babies. I started out giving them a voice and my goodness, with this film they have some voice now. It has been in America, it has been in Toronto, it has been around Europe. <\/p>\n

\u201cA film is much more than a documentary because it lives on in people\u2019s minds and hearts.\u201d<\/p>\n

[\u00a0\u2018In nine short months\u2019 Tuam excavation team uncovers 99 infants and childrenOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

The critically acclaimed film was directed by Frank Berry, who joined her on the red carpet. <\/p>\n

He said he and the entire crew and cast had been \u201cvery, very conscious of the responsibility\u201d that came with making a film about such a complex and sensitive topic, one that touched so many lives.<\/p>\n

He told reporters he had been gratified by the response to it so far. <\/p>\n

Corless is played by Monica Dolan, the Yorkshire-born winner of a Bafta for her portrayal of the English serial killer Rosemary West in the ITV drama Appropriate Adult. She hailed the manner in which the historian went about her researchfrom the very beginning. <\/p>\n

\u201cThank God Catherine Corless persevered and asked genuine questions and had the confidence when other people were suggesting they were famine bones to listen to people in the right way,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf someone she was interviewing said something a little strange, she didn\u2019t dismiss it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Alongside the film\u2019s stars and star producers at the premiere were Corless\u2019s family and friends. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt is surreal, that is all I can say,\u201d said her daughter Alicia Dilleen as she walked down the red carpet. \u201cWe are just very proud of her.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"When Catherine Corless was confronted by a phalanx of press cameras flashing wildly in the lobby of the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":628975,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[132609,321,93,238613,61,60,7322,216823,35840,22136],"class_list":["post-628974","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-celebrities","tag-catherine-corless","tag-celebrities","tag-entertainment","tag-frank-berry","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-liam-neeson","tag-monica-dolan","tag-mother-baby-homes","tag-tuam"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/628974","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=628974"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/628974\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/628975"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=628974"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=628974"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=628974"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}