Gardaí have sealed off the garden of a house in south Dublin ahead of a planned excavation following a claim by a woman that she was raped as a child and gave birth to two babies.

The now 53-year-old woman has come forward to tell officers at Sundrive Road Garda station that as a young girl she was abused by a number of men – including a close relative – with the attacks starting when she was just five years old in 1966.

She claims that when she was 12 years old she became pregnant and when she gave birth, the baby was taken from her by a close relative and suffocated before being buried in the back garden.

She said the same thing happened when she was 14 years old. Gardaí have interviewed the woman and are understood to have corroborated details of her story.

According to UTV Ireland, as part of their investigation detectives also plan to talk to a woman who is aged in her 90s about the claims made. At least one of those accused of raping the victim is dead.

The excavation of the garden in Walkinstown will involve the help of a forensic anthropologist and a forensic archaeologist.

It is believed that, even though the babies would have been very small, there will still be traces of them if they were buried in the location.

Gardaí served a search warrant at an address in south Dublin yesterday evening.

It is anticipated the search, which will start next week, will last for up to a month.

Gardaí say the results of the dig will determine the future direction of the investigation.