The Virgin Mary and the 'tainted' teenage girl who came to her for sanctuary

Caroline O'Doherty - on what the death of a teen mother taught us.

LUNCH-TIME at Mercy College passed with the usual boisterous mix of hurriedly eaten sandwiches, eagerly exchanged gossip, last-minute homework and stray footballs.

Most days, Ann Lovett missed the bustle and banter, preferring to take the short walk to her family home on Main Street where she would eat in the company of her younger sister, while their mother attended to the copious housework generated by a household of 11.