Who is Grace — the girl at the centre of the Farrelly Commission report? 

Grace resided with Family X between the ages of 10 and 30, a period spanning 1989 until her move to residential care in 2009.

In 2017, the Farrelly Commission was established to investigate the care and protection of “Grace” and others in a former foster home in the south-east of the country, which had been the subject of abuse allegations. 

Grace is the pseudonym of a woman now in her 40s who has been in the care of the State all her life. 

Grace has profound intellectual disabilities and is non-verbal. She resided with Family X — the family at the centre of the investigation — between the ages of 10 and 30, a period spanning 1989 until her move to residential care in 2009.

The commission of investigation report was published on Tuesday. 

Here, the Irish Examiner details who Grace is and how she came to live with the family. 

Who is Grace?

On September 28, 1978, about two months prior to her daughter's birth, Grace's mother moved to reside in a mother and baby home in Cork. She was just 17 at the time and was attending school.

Grace was born at 9.30am on November 24, 1978, following a Neville Barnes forceps delivery. Grace suffered asphyxia at birth and was transferred to the neonatal unit.

Her birth was a difficult one. She suffered significant trauma to her brain, and she required intubation for 15 minutes after birth. Grace stopped breathing for about five minutes 12 hours after her birth.

On February 27, 1979, she was admitted to the maternity hospital for an investigation into the reasons for her failure to thrive.

Grace was on March 6, 1979, diagnosed with secondary perinatal asphyxia. This condition resulted in her suffering profound lifelong intellectual and physical disabilities.

On May 13, 1979, Grace’s care officer received a telephone call from the medical officer in the mother and baby home. The medical officer indicated the hospital had no services to offer Grace. The officer asked whether since the mother was born in the south-east, would the South-Eastern Health Board accept the infant back into the area.

On June 1, 1979, Grace was placed in foster care with a Waterford family, but because “she was a poor feeder and cried a lot, the foster care broke down”.

Amid a wrangling as to which health board would accept the cost of her care, Grace’s case officer asked would the South-Eastern Health Board accept responsibility for maintenance. Since the child's mother worked, the officer said, they intended asking her to make some contribution also.

However, in what now appears to be a most callous comment in the context of money, Grace was not given long to live.

The note stated: "I am assured by the paediatricians that the lifespan of this infant is about five years."

In September 1979, when Grace was about 10 months' old, she was placed in a children's home in Dublin. It was pointed out that Grace's parents at this point, were both 18, and not in a position to marry.

The children's home reported Grace had “arrived safely and settled quite well. She's a nice wee girl, and not as handicapped as we thought she might have been”.  

She remained with displacement until August 1983, when she was about four. At this point, Grace's mother agreed to a weekly payment of £10 to the South-Eastern Health Board for the maintenance of Grace.

An assessment of Grace at this time noted she was considered to be severely mentally handicapped, and the amount of vision in both eyes was extremely limited. Her hearing was also said to be grossly impaired.

“However, the child is now walking but is very hyperactive and crashes into furniture and the bins. She pulls out her hair, grinds her teeth, and smiles occasionally. She is said to be the subject of temper tantrums and makes no effort to feed herself,” the assessment stated.

Family A 

In January 1983, when Grace was just over four, the matron of the children's home wrote to her care officer notifying that a couple had come forward who were interested in fostering Grace.

This couple, known as ‘Family A’, was from North Wicklow and had been visiting Grace for about three months at that stage, and took her home at weekends.

Official notes said it was felt the couple “were most suitable foster parents for Grace”.

This period of her life appeared to be a happy one and while Grace was placed on a waiting list for a residential placement in 1985 within the South-Eastern Health Board, she had still not been offered one in 1989 when her time with Family A came to an end. She was 11.

Family X

It was envisaged her placement with Family X would be only a temporary one until her residential place became available. Grace would stay with this family for the next 20 years.

The foster father, referred to as Mr X, was 67 years old when she came to live with the family in 1989. The foster mother was 50.

She was not removed from the foster family even when a complaint of sexual abuse was made to the South-Eastern Health Board against Mr X in 1996, in relation to another individual who was no longer in care of that family.

Mr X died in the early 2000s.

In 2007, a social worker who became aware of the previous allegation warned Grace was vulnerable to exploitation, sexual abuse, financial abuse, physical abuse and neglect.

Grace was removed from Family X in 2009 and moved to a residential family.

For many years during her time with Family X, Grace did not attend any school. She was eventually brought to a day centre, but attendance was irregular.

Farrelly report

The Farrelly Commission report, published on April 15, 2025, found a "fundamental failure" by the South-Eastern Health Board and the HSE in their duty of care to Grace.

However, it concluded it was "not satisfied" that the level of evidence was such to fully establish sexual, emotional or physical abuse of Grace during her time in the foster home.

The investigation found there was a general absence of oversight and monitoring of Grace in her placement with Family X. It also found Grace was seriously neglected in relation to lack of attention to her dental care.

By 2009, the report states Grace’s oral hygiene had been substantially neglected to the point that seven of her teeth had to be extracted.

The commission found there was neglect on Mrs X in not ensuring Grace attended the day centre more consistently and neglect over the standard of care in relation to her clothing and hygiene.

The report found some of Grace’s weekly disability allowance was not spent on her, and there was a “level of financial mismanagement or abuse” by Mrs X in this regard.

The commission found there was a general absence of oversight and monitoring of Grace in her placement by the South-Eastern Health Board and the HSE, and that this was a fundamental failure of their duty of care to Grace.

The commission did not establish neglect in the provision of food or sustenance to Grace.

Children's minister Norma Foley, who published the report, said there was also no finding of any evidence of physical abuse, emotional abuse, or sexual abuse.

The commission was also not satisfied evidence provided to it established or supported a finding there had been emotional abuse of Grace.

Mrs X died in 2024.

• This article was originally written by Daniel McConnell and published in the Irish Examiner in 2021. Additional reporting by Elaine Loughlin and Cillian Sherlock.