John Sweetman

Keeping herself busy was not unusual for Elaine.

It had long been a way of managing the mental health difficulties she had faced throughout her life.

But in the months before the Tall Ships Festival, that balance began to slip.

She admitted herself into St.

Edmundsbury Hospital in Lucan, a place she had come to rely on during difficult periods, returning there 14 times over the previous 12 years.

This time, she remained there for six weeks, having come close to suicide.

Elaine's struggles had not come out of nowhere.

She was born on St.

Patrick's Day in 1976 to Eileen, a teacher, and Frank, a banker.

Elaine grew up in Killiney and was the eldest of four children with two younger brothers and a younger sister.

Her early years were marred with bullying and struggles with dyslexia.

In her mid-teens, a close friend was killed in a road accident.

This had a devastating impact on Elaine.

She became introverted and withdrawn, leading to her first attempt at suicide and her first admission into psychiatric care.

After admitting at 12 that she had obsessive fantasies about being restrained, her doctor felt she had gradually emerging psychosis.

Elaine would be treated for depression and borderline personality disorder.

Life didn't get any easier for Elaine.

Her beloved ma'am Eileen died in 2002 at just 52 years of age, followed by her doctor's death a few years later.

With two of her biggest supporters gone, Elaine started to spiral.

During a hospital stay in 2005, Elaine told staff, I wasn't born for life.