Coleen Nolan Fears Long-Lost Half-Sister Was Among Those Found In Mass Grave At Irish Children's Home

Coleen Nolan has spoken of her fears her half-sister may have been one of the 800 children found in an unmarked grave at an Irish mother and baby home.

The ‘Loose Women’ star, who has previously spoken of finding out she had a half-sibling she never knew about while in her 20s, was discussing the discovery of the mass grave at Bon Secours Mother and Baby Home in Tuam, County Galway on Thursday’s (9 March) show. 

A commission on the home, which was the topic of local rumours for many years, recently confirmed that the bodies over 800 children, aged between 35 weeks and three years old, were buried in an underground structure divided into 20 chambers. 

Speaking with her fellow panellists about the horrific revelation, Coleen was concerned about the possibility her half-sister was among those who perished. 

“It just hit home to me because I’ve talked before about the half-sister I’ve never met, who was born over in Ireland,” she said. 

“I’ve always thought about why she has never got in touch, maybe she was adopted and sent to America. We’re not difficult to find if she did know about us. 

“I just read this and thought, she could have been one of those babies.”

Explaining her theory, Coleen went on: “It would have been around that time. She would have been born in the mid-1950s. I was so shocked when I saw it.”

The Bon Secours home took in unmarried mothers between 1925 and 1961, where they gave birth in secret, before often being forced to work at the home to pay off debts.

Coleen previously spoke of how her dad had fathered a child behind her mother’s back during the 1950s, but had never met her. 

Writing in her Best magazine column last year, she said: “I just felt so sorry for mum, who stuck with her husband despite his betrayal, and for the half-sister we never knew.”

‘Loose Women’ airs weekdays at 12.30pm on ITV.