Hush-a-Bye Baby
Hush-a-Bye Baby is a 1989 Northern Irish television film directed by Margo Harkin. Set in Derry in 1984, the film deals with the story of Goretti Friel, a fifteen-year-old Catholic girl who found herself pregnant during the Troubles. The film marks the acting debut of Irish singer and songwriter Sinéad O'Connor. Plot 
Goretti, Dinky, Sinéad and Majella are four Catholic teenage girls who have been friends since school. One day, Ciaran, an Irish-speaking, pro-IRA boy, enters their Irish class and falls in love with Goretti. One day, while the two are babysitting her sister, they have a sexual encounter. The next day, Ciaran is arrested because he is believed to be a member of the IRA, leaving Goretti alone. The following week the girl begins to feel ill and discovers she is pregnant, and to hide it, she begins to burn her sanitary towel and wears less clothing. When she writes a letter to reveal her status to Ciaran, she discovers that "torrach", the Irish word for "pregnancy", literally means "to bring a family". Because it is written in Irish, the letter is censored and discarded by the prison guards. Depressed and lonely, Goretti decides to travel to the Gaeltacht of County Donegal to visit her ancestors and improve her Irish, accompanied by Dinky. Feeling even worse, she reveals to Dinky that she is pregnant. After returning to Derry, Goretti is finally able to meet Ciaran in prison, but he reacts brusquely and disinterestedly to the news of her pregnancy, infuriating Goretti. The girl attempts an unsafe abortion using alcohol and a hot bath. Back at school, Goretti is unable to tell Sinéad and Majella about her condition, and Majella calls one of her classmates who has had early sexual intercourse a 'slut'. During a class, the English teacher reads "Limbo" by Seamus Heaney, a poem about a mother drowning her baby in the Donegal fishing village of Ballyshannon. The film ends during the Christmas holidays, with Goretti screaming in pain in her bed, attracting the attention of her parents as the statue of Holy Mary placed in front of her begins to anthropomorphize. Cast 
 Emer McCourt as Goretti
 Micheal Liebman as Ciaran 
 Cathy Casey as Dinky
 Julie Rodgers as Majella
 Sinéad O'Connor as Sinéad

Production 
The production of the film took place in 1989 and was funded by British television's Channel 4 and Irish public service broadcaster RTÉ. The premise of the film was inspired by the real stories of fifteen-year-old Ann Lovett, the Kerry Babies case, and the discovery of an abandoned baby in the grotto of Derry's Long Tower Church. Music 
Margo Harkin asked Irish singer-songwriter Sinéad O'Connor to compose the film's soundtrack but O'Connor was impressed by the script that she wanted to act as well. Initially cast as a nun, she eventually decided to play the small part of Sinéad. An instrumental remix of her "Three Babies" (a song about a series of miscarriages she had at the time) is the theme, while the vocal remix is played during the credits. Commenting on her contribution, O'Connor said:

Release 
Harkin explained that the film was the victim of censorship by the "right wing of the republican movement" and that some cinemas refused to show it, while thanks to the funding received, it was possible to broadcast it on television. Reception

Awards 
Emer McCourt won the Best Actress Award at the 1990 edition of the Locarno Film Festival

References

External links 
 

Films from Northern Ireland
1989 films
Films about women in the United Kingdom
Films directed by Margo Harkin