A coroner today requested the exhumation of the body of a baby girl who was buried unidentified in a communal grave after being discovered stabbed in a laneway in Dún Laoghaire in 1973.
The baby, who died from stab wounds, was discovered on April 4th, 1973, in Lee's Lane and was buried in the Little Angels Plot in Glasnevin Cemetery.
Dr Kieran Geraghty wrote to the Minister for Justice seeking the exhumation of the body from the plot in Glasnevin in an attempt to identify the baby through DNA.
Dublin County Coroner Dr Kieran Geraghty
He stressed it would be logistically difficult to carry out the exhumation with the number of bodies buried there and that the outcome would be uncertain. The case was adjourned last February as gardaí were awaiting a decision from the Director of Public Prosecutions on the investigation file.
"The purpose is to identify the deceased. Cynthia Owen claims to be the mother of the baby, while other people would say otherwise," the Dublin County Coroner said.
After the brief hearing, Ms Owen, who has come forward claiming to be the mother of the baby, said: "I welcome the news he has written to the Minister for Justice and asked him to consider the exhumation of my daughter's remains because it is about time the truth of this case came out.
"It is a very emotional time for me at the moment, but hopefully the truth will come out in the end."
Ms Owen, who is now in her 40s, has claimed the baby was one of two children she gave birth to as a result of sexual abuse in the 1970s.
The inquest was adjourned until November 7 th.
