Two psychologists today told an inquest they were in no doubt that Cynthia Owen had been raped and gave birth to a baby that had been murdered.
The inquest was continuing into the death of the baby girl, known as Noeleen, who was found dead with 40 stab wounds on April 4, 1973, in a plastic bag on Lee's Lane in Dún Laoghaire, Co Dublin.
Dublin County Coroner Dr Kieran Geraghty heard the now 45-year-old woman told Dr Dawn Henderson she had been the victim of abuse, details of which she did not want disclosed at the hearing.
"Cindy is not mentally ill," said Dr Henderson, clinical psychologist with the North West Wales NHS Trust.
"In my opinion she is reacting in a normal way to a very abnormal and horrific childhood experience."
Dr Henderson told the inquest that over three years she had 70 sessions with Ms Owen for an hour and a half each.
"From my professional opinion she was telling the truth about her daughter and sexual abuse," she said.
"I do not have any doubt the birth, death and disposal of her daughter. I do not know about the detail but I'm convinced of the truth of the main events."
After her allegations emerged, gardaí referred Ms Owen to a second psychologist in Dublin.
Fred Noel, retired principal psychologist with the South Dublin Psychology Service, said she gave a vivid and detailed account of giving birth.
He added that neither he or a colleague believed she was suffering from a mental illness.
Ms Owen earlier claimed someone tried to kill her the night her newborn baby was stabbed to death and dumped.
She said the woman, known as B, who she claims murdered the infant, tried to drown her as they carried the dead baby in a plastic bag to Dun Laoghaire, Co Dublin.
She said as she and B walked from Dalkey along Sandycove pier she was pushed in to the water with her clothes on.
"I couldn't swim," she said. "B was very aware of the fact. She was trying to drown me pushing me in to the water. I was fully submerged in the water."
Ms Owen said the bag with the baby in it was also thrown in the water, but she managed to grab it as it floated and get out of the water.
Ms Owen came forward 12 years ago claiming to be the mother of the baby girl, known as Noleen, which she says was a result of sexual abuse.
The woman has claimed four different people - referred to as A, C, D, and E during the hearing - physically and sexually abused her and raped her over a seven-year period from the age of seven.
PA