At Galway Circuit Criminal Court, a 47-year-old mother has been sentenced to 24 years in prison, with the final 16 years suspended, for the cruelty and neglect of eight of her children.
The woman pleaded guilty to eight sample charges of assaulting, ill-treating and neglecting two sons and six daughters over a seven-year period from 2002 to 2009.
She cannot be named to protect the identity of the children.
Imposing sentence, Judge Raymond Groarke said it was incredible that the abuse could go on for so many years with little or no intervention.
