Victim of man convicted of raping 7 daughters and sister didn't know what a Christmas present was, court hears

After a five-week trial last year at the Central Criminal Court he was convicted of 58 counts of rape and nine counts of sexual assault.

In her victim impact statement, which she read out in court, Philomena Connors said she sometimes thinks why did her mother have her and wishes she had never been born. She said she always had emptiness in her heart and she still has to this day.

Ms Connors said her father had control over her and she could not see how normal people lived. She said she went on thinking what was happening was normal, but she knows now it was not normal.

She said when she was a child, she did not have a choice what happened to her. She said her children have a right to a childhood and she does not want them to have the life she had.

Ms Connors said the abuse affects her every single minute of her life. She said she always thinks why, but knows she will never get an answer.

The victim impact statements of the remaining seven women were read out in court on their behalf by a garda sergeant.

In her victim impact statement, Kathleen O'Driscoll said she can remember her father abusing her from her earliest childhood memories. She said she prayed each night that she would not wake up.

Ms O'Driscoll said her father threatened that if she told anyone about the abuse, he would cut her throat and the throat of the person she told. She said she had watched him cut the throats of goats.

She said that at the time, she had never heard anyone in her community speak about rape and she said that women in her community are expected to be virgins. She said that if the marriage of a Traveller woman ends, she would have to return to her parents.

‘Come forward and ‘don’t be afraid’ - Helen, whose father James O'Reilly was jailed for 20 years for the repeated rape and sexual abuse of his seven daughters and his younger sister, appeals to other victims of abuse. https://t.co/H1TQW1xgRZ pic.twitter.com/BLwgSEm1aJ

— RTÉ News (@rtenews) June 15, 2020

Ms O'Driscoll said to feel guilty for the actions of another is wrong. She said “the fear kept us silenced”.

Christine Rooney, the accused man's sister, said she felt like her brother had stolen her childhood and education. She said these were things she could never get back.

Ms Rooney said her brother thought he could control her with fear and it worked. She said he would not feed her and she had to beg for food outside.

“He will not beat me,” Ms Rooney said. She said in her view he should never be free to cause the pain and misery he inflicted on her to anyone else.

Helen O'Donoghue said she had no education, no life and her father took everything from her. She said she has put up with being raped, starved and beaten all her life.

Ms O'Donoghue said she feels suicidal at times and it is her kids that keep her going. She said she has never had the love of parents to this day.

She said as a child she did not know what a Christmas present was or what Christmas dinner was. She said she did not even know what age she was until she got married.

Ms O'Donoghue said she had never learned to read or write and would have loved to go to school. She said she could not make a life for herself as she did not know how.

Margaret Hutchinson said the abuse was a constant part of her life. She said her father told her if she ever told anyone about the abuse he would kill her and her mother.

Ms Hutchinson said her father took her childhood and her innocence. She said she had no friends and only went to school for her Communion and Confirmation.

She said her father threatened that he would make her pregnant and that no one would marry her. She said that when she became pregnant aged 16, she knew the threat he made was now real.

Ms Hutchinson said her father wanted her to give the baby up for adoption. She said her baby was a secret that he wanted to get rid of but she would not let him.

She said that after she gave birth she was “dirty” in the community. She said that other Traveller parents would not let their daughters be friends with her.

Ms Hutchinson said that since this became public, her whole family has been affected. She said she had thought her father could not hurt her anymore, but he is still having a huge effect on her family.

Mary Moran said her life was never ever going to be the same again. She said she struggles to wake up every morning.

Ms Moran said the pain is always in her heart and it never leaves. She said there are times when she does not even want to leave her house.

She said her father destroyed her life and took everything from her. She said she hates her mother more for not stopping him.

Anne Reilly said she loves her children to bits and if she did not have them she would kill herself.

Ms Reilly said when she goes out, she runs everywhere just to get home. She said she would have loved to go to school and could not even write her name until she was aged 16.

She said she has gotten justice in the eyes of the law, but it is never going to be enough justice. She said she cannot put into words how her father has ruined her life.

Bridgette O'Reilly said her whole childhood was taken away from the start. She said she hears her father's voice and has flashbacks daily.

Ms O'Reilly said she is afraid to go to sleep and will stay up for days at a time. She said she locks herself away and goes days without eating.

She said no matter how much she tries, it will never go away. She said if not for the support of her partner, her children, her neighbours and Women's Aid, she does not know where she would be.