Thousands of babies and children died in 18 of Ireland’s mother and baby homes – church-run institutions where unmarried women were sent to deliver their babies in secret, often against their will – over eight decades, according to a landmark report.

The Commission of Investigation into Mother and Baby Homes and Certain Related Matters – which was set up to investigate what happened in 14 mother and baby homes and four county homes from 1922 to 1998 – announced the 9000 deaths as part of the final findings of its near six-year inquiry.

Around 56,000 people – from girls as young as 12, to women in their 40s – were sent to the 18 institutions investigated, where some 57,000 children were born, according to the report.