IT TOOK a jury at an inquest just under four-and-a-half hours to decide what gardaA- have been investigating for 34 years.

Cynthia Owen gave birth to a baby girl aged 11 on 4 April, 1973. Twelve jurors unanimously found that that infant died from stab wounds in the family home in Dalkey, south Dublin, and was later found in a laneway in nearby Dun Laoghaire.

The child has a name, Noleen, and this was officially recognised for the first time on Friday amid emotional scenes.

Written representations will now be made to TA naiste and minister for justice Michael McDowell requesting that he immediately set up an independent inquiry into the garda handling of the 1973 murder investigation, Cynthia's solicitor Gerry Dunne has told the Sunday Tribune.

It's certainly not the first time such an inquiry has been sought, but in light of the inquest's findings, the minister will be under considerable pressure to comply.

At the four-day inquest held at Dublin County Coroner's Court last week, Cynthia alleged she was raped repeatedly from the age of seven or eight into her teenage years by four different people. And she wasn't the only one making accusations. Her three sisters and a niece made allegations of sexual abuse also, as did two of her brothers, both now dead.

All the horrific details of sodomy and incest were not reported in the newspapers. No one could bear to read it. But it's what remained unsaid at the coroner's hearing that may be more shocking than the alleged sexual assault.

It was suggested that Cynthia's father, Peter Murphy Snr, a father of nine, was "pimping" his children out to fund his drinking habit.

Michael Forde SC, for Owen, asked his son Peter Jnr how his father was able to drink in the pubs of Dalkey seven nights a week on his meagre Dublin corporation salary. "Was it because he was pimping some of his children?"

No, came the deadpan response from his son, who waived his right to anonymity and faced accusations of rape at the inquest himself from Cynthia and another sister, Frances, which he vehemently denied.

Horrific But Cynthia told the inquest that she had been forced to perform sexual acts with a man referred to as E, a "family friend, " as well as others she wasn't related to.

Who were these others?

The night baby Noleen was stabbed to death with knitting needles, the crime Cynthia says was committed by her late mother Josephine Murphy, who then dumped the body, they met two members of An Garda SA-ochA na in a squad car.

They questioned the woman and her young daughter about what they were doing out in the dead of night, but did not hold the pair up.

Why did 11-year-old Cynthia - who said she had just watched her mother kill her baby that night and then attempt to drown her - not run into the arms of gardaA-?

"I can't go into that, " she told the court quietly when questioned. Coroner Dr Kieran Geraghty was quick to interject. "There are reasons outside this inquest why she couldn't go to gardaA-, " he informed the jury, who looked puzzled. It seemed strange to them that she'd rather go home to a house where she said she suffered systematic rape on a regular basis than seek police help.

Implications hung heavy in the air about why she would fear some members of the gardaA- more than members of her own family.

Time and time again, Forde tentatively attempted to steer the inquest into uncharted waters examining this, and every time, loud objections were voiced from legal counsel for An Garda SA-ochA na.

Sinister insinuations aside, the inquest heard of the inadequate garda murder investigation. The green bag that contained the dead infant was simply nowhere to be found when gardaA- reopened the investigation in 1995 after Cynthia came forward to claim Noleen, according to Det Dominic Hearns.

Neither were blood samples taken from Noleen in 1973, and despite the fact that gardaA- were investigating a murder, the child was buried in a communal plot at Glasnevin cemetery, meaning it could never be exhumed to forensically prove the child's identity.

Regardless, the jury felt they had enough proof.

Six men and six women returned an open verdict on the infant's death after being advised that they could not return a verdict of unlawful killing as it would "implicate people" in criminal activity, which is outside the remit of an inquest.

Outside court, Cynthia described the 1973 garda investigation into her child's death as a "sham."

Then she went even further: "I can categorically say that some of those in authority did know about the abuse."

It's clear the gardaA- will face more questions. But what of the family members accused of incest?

Ten children, including Cynthia's niece Theresa who was raised as their sister, were brought up in the small terraced house in Dalkey by Josephine and Peter Murphy Snr. Three of those children are dead - Theresa and Martin both committed suicide while the cause of Michael Murphy's death has never been determined. Cynthia has suggested that foul play was involved and that he spoke to her about sexual abuse he suffered. He went missing in 2002 and his decomposed body was found a couple of years later at Killiney Dart station.

In a harrowing suicide letter, Theresa detailed sexual abuse in the family home and told gardaA- before her death that a woman in the family home took turns forcing herself and Michael to sleep in bed with a man who sexually assaulted them.

One by one, the rest of the sisters gave evidence, recounting harrowing stories of abuse.

Five out of six of the girls raised as sisters alleged sexual abuse.

Frances, defiant and angry, told the inquest how her brother Peter raped her as a child. As she gave her evidence, Cynthia turned in her seat to stare long and hard at her brother and father before breaking into sobs. Aware of her gaze, the two men never flinched. Another sister Esther recounted her memories of attempted sexual assaults by men against her in a detached way.

As did Catherine, who described emotionlessly how a man, referred to as D, attempted to rape her in the family home.

The only sister to cry giving evidence was Cynthia.

Expressionless, Margaret Stokes described how her daughter Theresa committed suicide.

"She hung herself, " she said, and no, she did not believe the allegations made by her daughter.

Equally distressing was Margaret Stokes's recollection of having a miscarriage and of how her mother flushed the foetus down the toilet. "It was like a little pet mouse with no hair", she said.

For four torturous days, what was left of a broken family sat in the same stuffy room listening to various accounts of rape and sodomy. All together, but very much apart.

A dead baby had thrust them momentarily into each other's company. On Friday, it was officially recognised that Noleen existed, however briefly. It was confirmation of this life that has given her mother the strength to keep fighting until the full truth emerges, however disturbing.