Woman held captive and raped by ‘Irish Joseph Fritzl’ for more than 20 years revisits ‘house of horrors’
A WOMAN held captive by the “Irish Joseph Fritzl” for more than 20 years has returned to the “house of terrors” where her ordeal unfolded.
Brave Mary Manning and her daughters Ashley and Iseult made the journey as they lifted the lid on their life under the control of evil rapist Sean McDarby.
After 20 years of counselling, Mary made the decision to go back to the house where her childhood was shattered.
The monster first raped her in 1976 when she was just 12-years-old and impregnated her for the first time when she was 16.
Her daughters Iseult and her sisters Ashley and Megan, who were born as a result of rape, first revealed their story to The Sun after waiving their right to anonymity.
The siblings say their mother Mary — who was beast McDarby’s stepdaughter — was repeatedly abused and lived in fear for years.
Since then they have received widespread praise and support after highlighting how authorities did nothing after they reported the horrific abuse.
Mary said: “My country let me down, my country failed me. I asked for help, I was a basket case, I was only a child, no one helped me.”
My country failed me... I asked for help, I was a basket case, I was only a child, no one helped me
Mary Manning, Irish Fritzl victim
This week, Mary and her children travelled to her former home in Ardee, Co Louth, north east Ireland, for some form of “closure” after they learned the building was going to be demolished.
Our exclusive pictures show eerie images of the interior of the house, which has laid empty for many years.
Torn off wallpaper, ripped up floors and stained curtains are all that remain of the "house of trauma" where Mary grew up.
Her bedroom, where the abuse happened regularly is now a damp and weary space.
Mary, who works as a psychotherapist, said: "As I walked through the house, I expected it to be much bigger.
"As a child I would always look for hiding spots. That was my prison. I could not escape.
"When I was very young and tried to escape, I would go to my grandma’s house. She tried to protect me."
Her daughter Ashley said: "I wondered why mum stood by the garage and became upset.
"That’s where she would wait for the opportunity to get into the house without being caught by that monster Sean, she never used the front door."
Iseult, who was with Mary during the visit, said: “It’s evident from the condition and energy in the house it was void of love, it’s a disgusting house.”
The Manning family are calling for an independent review into Mary’s case and why when the family disclosed the abuse to social services, no action was taken.
In her book, Nobody Will Believe You, Mary described how McDarby made her put the baby into paper bag for him to "dispose of".
He later claimed he buried the child on his farmland in Carlow, south-east of Ireland.
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Sean McDarby married Mary’s mother Mona a year after her father Richard died. He began grooming her soon afterwards before sexually abusing her.
By the time she was 12 he was raping her.
He moved Mary to three different locations in Dublin where she was cut off from the outside world.
By the time she was 22 she was living alone with four children under the age of five, with no communication to the outside world.
Psycho Fritzl, 84, is serving a life sentence in Austria for holding his daughter captive in an underground cellar for 24 years where she was raped and beaten and gave birth to seven children.
