A man has been jailed for nine years for raping his daughter on a weekly basis while she was in her late teens.

Patrick O’Driscoll with an address in Codrum, Macroom, Co. Cork was found guilty following a week-long trial in November.

His daughter told the court their family has been torn apart by what happened.

The abuse began shortly after the O’Driscoll family moved to Cork in 2008.

Ellen O’Driscoll - who was 16-years-old at the time is now aged 24 - waived her right to anonymity so her father could be named.

The court heard she was raped on a weekly basis right up until April 2009 - and that it only ended because she decided to move out of the family home.

She spent some time in a women’s refuge in Cork city and later made a complaint to Gardaí.

Patrick O’Driscoll, 42, faced over 80 charges of rape but the jury was directed to return not guilty verdicts on a number of counts.

Eventually, he was convicted on 61 counts.

Mr. Justice Butler described the evidence given by Ellen as “harrowing.”

She broke down several times in the witness box as she told the jurors of how he used to abuse her when her mother was out shopping, or when she was looking after her younger brothers and sisters.

She said she wasn’t allowed go to school and was forced to stay at home and behave like a housewife - cooking, cleaning and taking care of the kids.

She said he used to threaten her not to tell anyone - telling her he would kill her and himself if she did.

In her victim impact statement, she said her entire family has since turned against her adding that everyone has taken her father’s side.

She said she did not blame her siblings for doing so, but would never forgive her mother. She said she felt she was serving a life sentence, even though she has done nothing wrong.

Mr. Justice Butler said he hoped the fact that the jury believed her and returned unanimous guilty verdicts was of some consolation.

He then handed down a ten year sentence with the final year suspended.