Excavation work is due to commence at the site of the former mother-and-baby home in Tuam, Co Galway.
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.
The excavation will be overseen by the Office of the Director for Authorised Intervention in Tuam (ODAIT).
It has appointed a number of experts to carry out the task, which will take at least two years to complete.
The 5,000 square metre site, where the dig will take 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 will 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.