Body of baby found in town’s train station

A BODY of a baby boy was discovered in the waiting room at Drogheda railway station in June of 1951, sparking a debate about the circumstances of the child’s death.

A verdict that death was due to strangulation and fracture of the skull was returned at an inquest in Drogheda on a Monday morning, just hours after the baby was found

The Coroner was Dr. W. A. Bradley: Inspector McGonagle represented the Gardai and the foreman of the jury was Colr B. V. Anderson.

Bernard Woods, Shop St., Drogheda, a ticket collector at the station, said that as a result of a conversation with a girl who had arrived for a train to Laytown, he went to the ladies’ waiting room where she pointed out a yellow shopping-bag to him which was under one of the seats with the zip slightly open.

He pulled it the rest of the way and when he saw there was a child in it he notified the Gardai and remained in the waiting room until they arrived.

Sergt. J. Byrne, said he examined the bag and found that it contained the body of a newly-born infant wrapped in a pink slip. He was satisfied that the child was then dead.The 14 year old girl from Moran’s Terrace, said she went into the room while waiting for a Laytown train.

While there she dropped a threepenny-piece and when she got on her knees to look for it she saw the yellow bag. The zip was not fully closed and she looked to see what was in the bag as she thought somebody had forgotten it.

She then got a shock when she saw the body.

There was nobody in the waiting room at the time but there were a lot of people on the platform.

Dr. J. Hardy said he examined the body on Sunday afternoon and the child was then dead. There were some marks on the head and neck. On Monday he examined the body with Dr. McGrath, State Pathologist, and found it to be that of a fully-developed male infant.

Rigor mortis had then passed over and they considered that the child had been dead for about three days.

Death was due to strangulation and fracture of the skull. Tests showed that the child had been born alive and the injuries could not have been caused by accident.

The Coroner said there had been too much laxity about this sort of thing. He had the power to order the arrest of the responsible person.

After a brief absence the jury returned a verdict in accordance with the medical evidence and the Coroner remarked that it, of course, implied infanticide. He thought it a proper verdict.