Baby Doherty

And it was never known if I was boy or girl
Never placed on the public record.

I wasn't even a statistic.
I wasn't counted in the cold numbers of the dead.

Until 2003 when I was granted personhood,
Voiced by the Coroner as the 27th victim of the Dublin Bombings.

Article 40 of the Constitution of this Republic
Admits me to history, commits me to your consideration.

I was closer to my mother Collette
Than the cloud on the mountain.

I was her Mayblossom
In the park.

I moved in her and through her
Into your history books.

Her last dream was my last dream.
She dreamt of Halloween,

Of orchards of fruit
Ripe and ready to fall.

This poem was written by Paula Meehan for full-term unborn Baby Doherty for the commemorative concert performed by Black Box Theatre Company to mark the 30th anniversary of the Dublin and Monaghan bombings and to celebrate the lives of the victims, held in Liberty Hall on 10 May 2004.