1984 Revisited: Teen girl’s death in a graveyard lifted lid on Ireland’s hypocrisy

1984 was a seminal year in Ireland. Forty years on, our writers look back at some of the scandals and stories that made the headlines and helped shape the Ireland of today

The grotto where 15-year-old Ann Lovett died with her newborn baby. Picture: Brenda Fitzsimons

Ann Lovett was not the first young woman to be brutalised by our misogynistic hierarchies, writes Rosita Sweetman. 

1984 was another year when history was scrawled across the bodies of women. Of four young women, in particular.