Irene Kelleher's play about the lonely death of a pregnant teenager

Irene Kelleher is taking her fictional play, Mary and Me, to the Edinburgh Fringe. It was inspired by the tragic events in Granard in 1984, writes Colette Sheridan

AS A first time playwright, Cork-based actor Irene Kelleher is thrilled that her play is being premiered at the Edinburgh Fringe after a successful three-day preview at the Brighton Fringe.

Mary and Me, which will tour Ireland from September and will be staged in Cork in 2018, is inspired by the true story of Ann Lovett, a 15-year-old girl who died giving birth beside a grotto in Granard in Co Longford in 1984. It was a story that shocked the nation, an apparently secret pregnancy ending in tragedy for a girl who didn’t feel she could confide in anyone. The infant also died.