A young woman has told the Central Criminal Court that her earliest memory of being sexually abused by her mother was from when she was three years old.
The woman, who is now in her 20s, was giving evidence in the trial of three people including her mother and uncle who are charged with raping and sexually assaulting her when she was a very young child.
The woman's mother faces 13 charges of sexual assault and a charge of rape relating to an incident where she allegedly facilitated the rape of her child at the age of six.
The complainant's uncle is charged with six counts of rape including oral rape.
A third man, who was a family friend, faces one count of oral rape. All three deny all the charges. They cannot be named to protect the anonymity of the complainant.
In the witness box, the woman described being sexually abused by her mother from the age of three both at home and while on holiday in a family-owned property in another county.
She said as a young child she lived in a house with her grandfather, her grandmother, her mother and an aunt and uncle.
She said there was always drinking and violence in the house and the adults were always "fighting and attacking each other".
The woman said she mainly stayed out of their way and would hide when they were fighting.
She said her mother had continued to drink after her grandparents died.
"I didn't understand it was wrong"
She said she would buy wine most days in the shop and would often be "passed out in the living room".
The woman said she always shared a room with her mother and remembered her mother removing her pyjamas regularly and sleeping naked with her.
She said her earliest memory of her mother getting her to perform a sexual act on her was at the age of three, adding that at the time she "didn't understand what it was".
She said she remembered her mother telling her not to tell her grandfather what had occurred.
She described other occasions when similar sexual assaults occurred and said: "I didn't understand it was bad. I didn't understand it was wrong."
She remembered on one occasion asking her mother "what are you doing?", but she said she did not recall getting an answer.
Woman tells jury assaults continued throughout childhood
The woman told the jury the assaults continued throughout her childhood from the age of three until the age of 12 and she could not put a figure on how many times it had happened.
She also described being in her uncle's room one evening shortly before her sixth birthday.
She said she would spend a lot of time in the room because he had a TV and a PlayStation.
She said her mother left the room and returned with her uncle who raped her.
When asked where her mother was while this happened, she said her mother had stood back at the wardrobe adding - "she was just standing there watching, she didn't say anything, she didn't do anything".
She went on to describe a number of other occasions when she said she was raped and orally raped by her uncle when no else was present.
She also said on one occasion she witnessed her mother having sex with her uncle, her mother’s brother.
Later when her mother had a partner with whom she went on to have several children, she said she witnessed her mother and her partner having sex and said they were "not discreet" about it.
The woman also described being in a games room at home which was often frequented by family friends.
She said on one occasion a man who she had known from the age of nine made her give him oral sex.
She confirmed that was the man on trial charged with orally raping her. She said the man had locked the door of the room while she was playing the PlayStation and had beckoned her over with his finger before telling her "your mother knows" and making her perform oral sex on him.
She said she was around 11 at the time and saw the man several times after that occasion.
She said most of the abuse by her mother took place before she had her first period at the age of 12 and after that she remembered being sexually assaulted by her mother a final time when she was 15.
Woman was 'terrified' of gardaí
The woman also told the jury she remembered one occasion at the age of 13 when she had severe pain and bleeding.
She said she believes on that occasion she may have had a miscarriage because she had never experienced anything like it since.
She said she left home at the age of 17 to live with family friends and by the time she was 18, Tusla had become involved with her family.
She said before leaving home she had been minding her siblings a lot as her mother and her partner would frequently "go off" in the car and might bring one child with them but left the rest at home.
She said at that time she did not feel able to speak to the gardaí about what had happened to her as she was quite frightened at the time and was also "terrified" of gardaí.
She later discussed it with a rape crisis counsellor, she said.
The woman said after repeating her Leaving Certificate she went to college for a time before starting work.
The trial continues tomorrow.
