In the early 1950's a young girl in the south of Ireland entered a psychiatric institution. Two years earlier, she had been raped.

Now, almost 60 years later, that young girl is an elderly woman and still in a psychiatric institution - in fact she never left.

'Lives less lived' traces this woman's journey into the world of institutionalisation and along the way questions how this can happen to somebody and what can we do to ensure this story isn't repeated in 2010.

First broadcast Saturday 4th September 2010

Compiled and Narrated by John McCarthy

Produced by Liam O'Brien

Sadly, on January 10th 2011, John McCarthy passed away at his home in Cork City. John was just 61yrs old.

John McCarthy was a mental health campaigner and founder of Mad Pride Ireland

An Irish radio documentary from RTÉ Radio 1, Ireland - Documentary on One - the home of Irish radio documentaries.