Two people have been arrested on suspicion of murder in the infamous “Kerry Babies” case from 1984. The pair, a man and a woman in their fifties, were arrested on Friday in connection with the death of a newborn baby girl found on White Strand, Cahersiveen. The investigation into the case was recently reopened with a team of 20 officers reviewing documents and conducting twenty new lines of inquiry. The case shocked Ireland at the time and the country is still grappling with the historical treatment of women and children. The Kerry Babies controversy highlights the lack of access to abortion and contraception for women and the imposing of a moral and patriarchal society.
The case began in 1984 when Joanne Hayes, a woman from Abbeydorney, Co Kerry was wrongly accused of murdering a child discovered on a beach in Cahersiveen, Co Kerry. She was also accused of being the mother of the baby. Despite confessing she had given birth to a child, Hayes insisted she had not killed the baby and that the family was responsible for taking her away. Hayes later withdrew her confession, stating it had been made under duress. She claimed that she was beaten and that her life and the life of her family were threatened by gardaí. This is even more shocking when we consider that she had a legal right to remain silent. Despite that right, gardaí threatened to take away her child if she did not confess.
The Kerry Babies case was a result of the aforementioned patriarchal and moral values at play in Irish society at the time. The perception of unwed mothers was that they were of low moral character, often scandalously associated with illicit sexual activities. Under this social and moral framework pregnant, unmarried women had few options in Irish society. The limited access to birth control and abortion meant that many women were forced by cultural, religious and economic factors to conceal their pregnancies, often resorting to unsafe and illegal methods. This is not to mention the lack of support available to women who did keep their babies, with institutions such as mother and baby homes offering an often inhumane environment for both mother and child.
The reopening of the Kerry Babies case raises important questions about the way women’s bodies and their lives were policed during this period. It provides the opportunity to look afresh at a dark and troubling time in Irish social history. Although Ireland has made significant strides in women’s rights since the 1980s, the retrial of this historical case will continue the conversation we need to have about how gendered inequality has operated in Ireland.
The recent movement for change in Irish society, which gained momentum following the recent repeal of the Eighth Amendment that banned abortion in many circumstances, has meant that Ireland is looking differently at the values and laws that shaped the country in the past. Justice for women who were treated unjustly is an essential part of this movement. As such, the reopening of the Kerry Babies case shows that the Irish State continues to engage with, and acknowledge, the injustices of the past. However, it is important that accountability and justice are fully realized in these cases.
The reopening of the case also highlights the power and effectiveness of investigative journalism, in particular in uncovering wrongful convictions and cases of injustice. Media investigations can bring about a level of national attention that generates the much-needed political will to review and rectify past wrongdoings. It is important to note, though, that investigations are only part of the solution; it is equally important that the authorities follow through and work to rectify the harm that was done, providing compensation and acknowledging any wrongdoing by the state.
In conclusion, the reopening of the case of the Kerry Babies and the recent arrests of two people raises important questions about women’s rights and the unequal treatment of women and children at the time of the events in question. While important conversations have been had about these issues, it is only when justice is served that we can say society has atoned for the atrocities of the past. The power of investigative journalism and the political will generated by national media coverage is essential to rectifying such wrongs, but it is equally important that authorities follow through with the important task of ensuring that justice is served.
