Timeline: Key events in the Kerry Babies case

Three weeks from today will mark the 39th anniversary of the discovery of five-day-old Baby John's body on a beach in Caherciveen, Co Kerry
Timeline: Key events in the Kerry Babies case

File The Kerry Of Macmonagle In Picture: don John' Grave 'baby

Three weeks from today will mark the 39th anniversary of the discovery of five-day-old Baby John's body on a beach in Caherciveen, Co Kerry.

On Thursday night, two people — a man in his 60s and a woman in her 50s — were arrested as part of a cold case review of the investigation into the case.

Below is a timeline of all of the developments in the Kerry Babies case, one of the darkest and most emotive chapters in Irish history.

- April 14, 1984: The body of a baby boy is discovered on White Strand beach in Caherciveen. 

The infant, who is later given the name "Baby John", had suffered more than 20 stab wounds. Gardaí in Dublin are sent to investigate.

- May 1984: 25-year-old Joanne Hayes from Abbeydorney is arrested in connection with the death. She and her family are accused of concealing the birth of a child.

Ms Hayes came under suspicion as she had been admitted as a patient at Tralee General Hospital on the day Baby John's body was found. She had recently been pregnant but because there is no sign of her baby, detectives wrongly believe she is Baby John's mother.

Joanne Hayes. File Picture: Collins Photos
Joanne Hayes. File Picture: Collins Photos

Joanne and four other members of the Hayes family sign statements confessing to a role in the death of Baby John.

Joanne is charged before a special court with the murder of an unnamed infant and remanded in custody.

- October 1984: The confessions from the Hayes family are all withdrawn. 

They accuse investigating gardaí of intimidating them and coercing them into making false confessions.

During questioning, Joanne Hayes had told gardaí she gave birth to a baby boy — who she named Shane — who was stillborn or died days later and was buried on the family farm around the same time as the discovery of of Baby John.

- October 1984: All charges against Joanne Hayes and her family are dropped.

- Late 1984: The Kerry Babies Tribunal is established.

The tribunal is to investigate the circumstances leading to the charges against Ms Hayes, the family's allegations of Garda ill-treatment, and any other “connected and relevant” issues.

Joanne Hayes with her sister Kathleen, left, arrive for the hearing at the Kerry Babies Tribunal in 1985. File Picture: Eamonn Farrell/RollingNews.ie
Joanne Hayes with her sister Kathleen, left, arrive for the hearing at the Kerry Babies Tribunal in 1985. File Picture: Eamonn Farrell/RollingNews.ie

- 1985: Joanne Hayes is publicly cross-examined for five days. She is asked thousands of questions, many about her sex life.

The tribunal of inquiry attracts widespread media coverage, at home and abroad, and its conduct is heavily criticised

The Dáil committee on women’s rights later describes the questioning of Hayes as “insensitive, harrowing, horrific and shameful”. 

After 82 days, the tribunal ends. It mostly exonerates gardaí and finds Ms Hayes was not the mother of Baby John. However, it also makes other claims against Joanne Hayes and her family. The family say the claims are untrue.

A woman protests during the Kerry Babies Tribunal. File Picture: Eamonn Farrell/RollingNews.ie
A woman protests during the Kerry Babies Tribunal. File Picture: Eamonn Farrell/RollingNews.ie

- January 2018: Following a DNA test, Joanne Hayes is proven not to be the mother of Baby John.

Gardaí issue a full apology, both verbal and written, to Joanne Hayes and her family.

- January 17, 2018: 35 years later, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar issues an apology to Joanne Hayes on behalf of the State.

Gardaí announce a review into the case.

- 2019: Joanne Hayes, her daughter and her siblings commence High Court proceedings against the Garda Commissioner and the Director of Public Prosecutions.

- December 2020: The Hayes family secure declarations from the courts and the State that all findings or wrongdoing made against them by the tribunal of inquiry were unfounded and incorrect. 

The remains are taken to the morgue at University Hospital Kerry in Tralee for examination. They are then reinterred in the same grave.

- March 23, 2023: Gardaí announce a man in his 60s and a woman in her 50s have been arrested in connection with the investigation into the death of Baby John.

They have both since been released without charge. A file will now be prepared for submission to the Director of Public Prosecutions. 

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