A boy who was abused and raped by his father from the age of six until he was eight has told the Central Criminal Court he wanted to end his life before he was taken into care.
The now 12-year-old boy said his childhood was taken away by his father and his life only began when he reached his last foster home.
In a victim impact statement he said words had not even been invented for what his father had done to him.
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He described him as a horrible and cruel man whom he described as "Adolf Hitler".
The 66-year-old father was convicted last May on nine charges of raping his son after a seven-week trial.
He was also convicted of cruelty. The boy's 37-year-old mother was also convicted of cruelty to her son but acquitted of sexual abuse.
At the sentence hearing the court heard the boy had described being "hit, kicked and thrashed" on an almost daily basis and later disclosed he had been raped.
Prosecuting lawyers said he lived in fear of his father who constantly threatened him and at one point had been locked in a box.
Prosecuting counsel Pauline Whalley said she had to outline to the court the wider picture of what was "a catalogue of horror". She said the boy was frightened of his father and remained so throughout the trial when he expressed fear about his father finding out where he was.
In a victim impact statement read by prosecuting counsel to the court the boy said he was "trying to cast away" all his memories of what his father did.
"I want to empty all the boxes that were in my head and say 'au revoir' to my memories," he said.
He described his anger at his father and said he was glad he was in prison.
He said he did not want to see his father but maybe some time in the future he would like to ask him why he did those things to him.
Victim 'was always afraid'
He said he had been afraid to return to Ireland from a specialised unit in the UK because he was afraid his father would find him.
He wanted to change his name to avoid this.
He said: "I was always afraid my dad was going to find me. When I had to go back to Ireland I wanted to change my name in case he found out where I was.
"Now that he is locked up I would walk over there without a care in the world."
The boy remains in a specialised unit in the UK.
He said he felt happy and safe in his last foster home and did not want to leave it.
He said he would like to go back to see his foster mother and to walk the dogs.
He said he wanted to become a police officer and also planned to write a book about his life.
In his statement the boy also outlined some violent acts he would like to do his father including attaching a bomb to his genitals and running over him with a combine harvester.
He said before the trial he was writing a life story in which he had described his father as Adolf Hitler.
"Words have not even been invented for what he did to me," he said.
Psychologist describes impact of abuse
The court was also told that having to give evidence in the trial had distressed him.
A psychologist's report said the impact of what had occurred to the child could not be underestimated.
He was behind in his learning, had post-traumatic stress disorder and faces further difficulties in the future.
During the trial earlier this year the child gave his evidence by video link from a specialized treatment unit in the UK.
He had an intermediary to help explain questions to him.
It was the first time an intermediary was used in an Irish court following the introduction of new measures to support victims.
During his evidence the boy said he had been regularly raped, beaten, abused and threatened by his father, forced to have sex with his mother and at one point had been locked in a box.
He alleged his father videotaped some of the abuse and had shown it to others.
He was taken into care at the age of eight after telling a teacher about physical abuse by his father.
The teacher told the trial he had come to school one day in a distressed state and said he "just wanted it all to stop".
Boy placed in several foster homes
The boy was taken into care and was in a number of foster homes. He also said he had been sexually abused in one of those foster homes.
In his last foster home he began display disturbing, sexualised behaviour and then revealed the alleged sexual abuse.
A foster mother who gave evidence to the trial said the child had confided in her about the abuse by his parents and had displayed behaviour which was of concern.
She said he needed constant reassurance that he was safe and agreed that the boy had a good imagination but she said she believed his story.
She said he read and wrote a lot and had written an outline for a book he was planning called My Life in My Hell.
Eventually he had to leave her home because of his behaviour and go into specialised care in the UK.
She remembered the last thing the boy said to her was "I feel like a dog that nobody wants."
The parents had originally faced a total of 82 charges but 60 of those were dropped towards the end of the trial after legal issues arose.
The jury acquitted the father on nine charges of sexual assault and acquitted the mother of sexual assault.
The offences occurred between 2009 and 2011. They had both denied all the charges.
His father had alleged he was brainwashed by social workers. He is appealing his conviction.
His lawyers said he came before the court "largely of good character" and had a good and stable work record.
He has also done voluntary work in the past and had maintained a stable relationship with the boy's mother who had been coming out of a very abusive marriage.
She has four other children from previous relationships, all of whom were taken into care.
Senior Counsel Colman Cody said there was objective evidence that there were good times in the boy’s life and it was not a house of horrors as portrayed by the prosecution.
He said it was not a case of unrelenting darkness. He said the court should take account of that when passing sentence.
He asked the court to consider suspending part of any sentence imposed.
Sentence hearing told mother was abused as a child
The court has already held a sentence hearing for the 37-year-old mother during which the boy said he did not blame his mother but wished she had taken him away when the abuse started.
He was angry with her for staying with him but believed she was in fear.
Lawyers for the woman said when she was seven and living in the UK her mother's boyfriend started sexually abusing her.
She became pregnant by him when she was 14 and the child was taken into care.
The woman married this man when she was 17 and he brought her to Ireland where they had two further children who were also taken into care.
In 1999 the marriage ended when she alleged continuing physical and sexual abuse by him.
She met another man with whom she had a child who was also taken into care.
In 2001 she met her current partner and became pregnant with the boy at the centre of this case.
She had a mild cognitive disability and attended special schools growing up.
A psychological report said she was dependent on the boy's father and would have been unable to protect the child from him.
She remained in regular contact with her partner, who was also in custody, through letters and phone calls.
Defence counsel John O'Kelly asked for a non-custodial sentence.
He said his client "never had a chance from the age of seven" and "has had hardly any breaks in life expect for the very worst kind that can occur".
Judge Robert Eagar said he will pass sentence on both parents on 10 October.
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