Heartbreak of pregnant schoolgirl's grofto death that shocked our nation

Teen died in childbirth at statue of the Virgin Mary

- NICOLA DONNELLY

IT was one of the darkest days in Ireland's history an event that shocked and sickened the nation.

Teenager Ann Lovett, from Granard in Longford, died giving birth to her son beneath a statue of the Virgin Mary in a churchyard grotto on January 31, 1984.

Baby Patrick was stillborn and the cause of 15-year-old Ann's death was recorded as bleeding to death after birth and irreversible shock.

The double tragedy - which happened within months of the referendum that banned abortion - caused shockwaves and highlighted the atrocious shunning and shaming of women giving birth outside of marriage in an era of Catholicism. It exposed the horrific realities for young women who faced crisis pregnancies in the Ireland of the 1980s.

Now a new drama will shine a light on the events that unfolded in the village.

Directed and written by Ciaran Greagh, Ann starring Zara Devlin, Eileen Walsh and Ian Beattie - adds to the continued global debate around women's rights, pregnancy and abortion.

The drama follows the tragic schoolgirl over a single day as she makes her way through the small village.