Mary Frances Thérèse Raftery (21 December 1957 – 10 January 2012) was an Irish investigative journalist, filmmaker and writer.
Mary Raftery | |
|---|---|
| Born | Mary Frances Thérèse Raftery 21 December 1957 Dublin, Ireland |
| Died | 10 January 2012 (aged 54) St. Vincent's University Hospital, Dublin, Ireland |
| Nationality | Irish |
| Occupation(s) | Filmmaker, writer |
| Known for | States of Fear, Cardinal Secrets |
| Spouse | David Waddell |
| Children | One |
Raftery was born in Dublin.[1] She started her investigative journalism career with In Dublin magazine in the 1970s, before moving on to Magill Magazine and then to Raidió Teilifís Éireann (RTÉ) in 1984. Her documentary series States of Fear was broadcast on the Irish television channel Raidió Teilifís Éireann (RTÉ) in 1999.[2] A book she wrote later that year called Suffer the Little Children added more detail to her claim that the Irish childcare system between the 1930s and 1970s was guilty of widespread persecution and abuse. In 2000, the Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse was established by the Irish Government to examine the evidence: its Report was published in May 2009.[3] Her programme "Cardinal Secrets" was broadcast as a Prime Time special on RTÉ in 2002. It led to the setting up of the Murphy Commission of Investigation into clerical abuse in the Dublin Archdiocese which published the Murphy Report in 2009.
She was nominated for "NNI National Journalist of the Year" in 2011 for her work in exposing clerical abuse of children.[4]
Raftery died of ovarian cancer at St. Vincent's University Hospital on 10 January 2012, aged 54.[5][6][7][8] An Article that appeared in February 2012 in The Irish Times referred to her as "the most important journalist of the past 30 years".[9]
Writing edit
- Raftery, Mary; O'Sullivan, Eoin (1999). Suffer The Little Children. Dublin, Ireland: New Island. ISBN 9781874597834.
- Raftery, Mary (2013). Do They Think We're Eejits?. Dublin, Ireland: The Irish Times. ISBN 9780907011378.
References edit
- ^ "Mary Raftery dies: Documented child abuse in Ireland". The New York Times. 13 January 2012.
- ^ States of Fear at the Internet Movie Database.
- ^ "Child Abuse Commission".
- ^ McGreevy, Ronan (27 October 2011). "'Irish Times' journalists win top awards". The Irish Times. Retrieved 27 October 2011.
- ^ McGarry, Patsy (10 January 2012). "Journalist Mary Raftery dies". The Irish Times. Retrieved 10 January 2012.
- ^ "Journalist Mary Raftery dies aged 54". RTÉ News. 10 January 2012. Archived from the original on 15 April 2012. Retrieved 10 January 2012.
- ^ Obituary in The Irish Independent, 14 January 2012
- ^ Tribute to Raftery at sunnyspells.wordpress.com 17 January 2012
- ^ Fintan O'Toole (9 February 2012). "The woman who opened our eyes". The Irish Times. Retrieved 11 December 2020.