A woman who was born in a mother and baby home in Cork where hundreds of babies died has said survivors are prepared to chain themselves to diggers in order to prevent the building of apartments at the site. More than 250 people attended Sunday afternoon’s vigil at the graveyard folly in Bessborough in Blackrock, Cork city.They gathered to mark the lives of 923 children who died while resident at the home between 1922 and 1998. Only 64 have known graves.They also remembered the 31 women who died in the institution or in hospital having been a resident of Bessborough. The name of each woman was recited at the vigil. Earlier this year, developer Estuary View Enterprises was granted planning permission by Cork City Council to build 140 apartments at the site. Bessborough Mother and Baby Home Support Group and Labour councillor Peter Horgan lodged appeals with An Coimisiún Pleanála. A decision is due in relation to the appeals on July 9th. Noelle Brown, a Social Democrats councillor based in Dublin, was born at Bessborough. She told the gathering that hundreds of lives were lost through the “neglect and cruelty” of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and Mary nuns who ran the home for decades.She asked attendees to contact their public representatives and An Coimisiún Pleanála to “make their voices heard”.“If this decision goes against us on July 9th, we are not done fighting,” she said.Referencing a protest at Leinster House last March, she said: “Outside the Dáil, Senator Laura Harmon, who is here today, mentioned chaining ourselves to the diggers. I am with her on that. The fight is not one to give up. Not one to turn away from.”Carmel Cantwell of the Bessborough Mother and Baby Home Support Group, whose brother William died at the home, said the land should be preserved as a “national site of conscience”. She said “859 of the children who were born [at Bessborough] have no burial record at all", adding: “There has never been an exhaustive investigation to determine where they are buried. We have spoken to witnesses who saw children being buried here. “The land itself holds the truth. These buildings, these fields hold stories and secrets and the remains of our family members."Cantwell also paid tribute to Bessborough survivor Maureen Casey who died last month, saying: “She and her daughter travelled from London every year to attend this commemoration. We miss her deeply and today we remember her and her little boy who died here in 1961.”A minute’s silence was observed in memory of all those who died at the site. Singer Camille O’Sullivan performed at the vigil, which also had contributions from a number of survivors and their families. Teddy bears were placed on the ground near the folly, which is treated like an “unofficial headstone”.A number of Cork City councillors who are opposed to the development also attended the vigil.