The inquests into the deaths of the 48 young people who died in the Stardust fire in Artane, Dublin in 1981 feature pen portraits of each of the deceased read by bereaved family members. Find all of the portraits and more coverage here.
Martina was the fourth child born. [She] was born in the Coombe hospital. At the time of her birth, my mam, dad, Mary, Antoinette and John were living in a single bedroom [with extended family] in Ballyfermot.
It broke my mam and dad’s heart to tell the doctors ... they could not bring Martina home as the living conditions were too bad.
With the intervention of the doctors who contacted Dublin Corporation ... to our parents’ surprise, an inspector immediately called to our auntie’s house ... and in the following days our parents got our new three-bedroom house in Coolock.
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So, it was through the birth of Martina, we got the family home where our parents had four more children: Myself, Suzanne and Neville (who were twins) and Damien ten years after.
We had so much love and happiness in our family home.
Martina was absolutely, stunningly beautiful. She had everything going for her: very attractive, a beautiful figure, naturally blonde hair and a fantastic personality ... there wasn’t one fellah in Coolock or its surrounding areas who didn’t fancy Martina. She was a real-life lookalike of Marilyn Monroe – the image of our late ma Christine.
Martina was a very bubbly child, loved her family so much, loved her life and all her friends, and basically just loved life in general.
After primary school, she went to Colaiste Dhulaigh to complete her Intermediate Certificate with excellent results. This was 1979. Towards the end of June Martina got a part-time job working as a waitress in the Clare Manor Hotel on the Malahide Road.
We used to wait up ‘till Martina would come home ... We would all sit on the floor and help her count all her [tips]. Then the bad news came that Martina was out of a job. The Clare Manor Hotel went on fire and was destroyed ... She applied for a new job in Superquinn in Northside Shopping Centre.
Martina continued working in Superquinn and her education while ... studying to complete a secretarial course ... which she would have sat her exams in the following June 1981.
Martina started to date one of her workmates, David Morton, and fell madly in love with him. [She] was able to convince our ma and da to let her go to the Stardust, as all her workmates were going.
On Friday 13th February 1981, Martina finished work early and came home to get ready for what was to be a great night, the K-Tel disco competition, and to meet up with her boyfriend David.
She wore her boob-tube top, her lurex belt and her satin, black trousers that clung to her, showing her beautiful little petite figure. She looked like a movie star ... and was so looking forward to her night out with Mary, Antoinette, Mary Kenny, Helen and ... her boyfriend David.
Martina had brought a Valentine’s card with her that night to give to David and it was found floating around in water outside on Saturday 14th February 1981. It was entitled ‘the last Valentine’ by the media when it was found.