The man who raped his sister and seven daughters, one of whom gave birth to her

James O'Reilly, now 75, had made little girls the object of terrible sexual abuse as well as physical abuse, food rejection, and other forms of degradation, said at his trial in Irish capital Dublin.

During abuses that occurred between 1977 and 2000, O'Reilly raped one of his daughters, leaving him pregnant in 1988. So he advised her to say that she was raped by someone else.

He continued to abuse her and stopped until she threatened her with a knife. Later DNA tests showed that he was the father, and that was used against him in serving him sentence.

One of the victims said she had been left without food and was forced to beg for food, while another said she did not know what Christmas gifts were until she was grown up.

O'Reilly, from Killens, Ireland, was acquitted of 81 counts of rape and sexual assault. But early in the year he had been convicted by the jury of 58 rapes and 9 sexual assaults.

Prosecutor Caroline Biggs SC said seven girls had demanded anonymity after appointing their abuser. They were seen feasting outside the court when they were given the sentence for O'Reilly.

O'Reilly was about 34 when he abused his first victim, his 13-year-old sister. After a few years, he began abusing his daughter when her mother was in a hospital pregnant.

In 1977, when his daughter was about eight years old, he raped her in a van and told her that if he showed up, he would send her for adoption. The family lived in a home in Dublin during the trial, but more in a horse - drawn caravan and later in a more modern mobile home, reported the trial.