French police are investigating the discovery of a dead baby found aboard a fishing boat that regularly lands catches at Killybegs, Co Donegal and Castletownbere in West Cork.

The presumed mother of the infant was subsequently found to have had two other dead infants stored in freezers at her apartment in Lorient, a seaport in Brittany, north France.

The body onboard the French-registered vessel was discovered in port in France. It is known to fish off the southwest coast of Ireland and had landed in Castletownbere in west Cork two months ago.

However, the discovery of the body has no connection to Ireland.

Mother in custody

At a press conference on Thursday, the Lorient prosecutor said the presumed mother of the children, aged 50, remained in custody.

According to a report of the press briefing in the Le Télégramme newspaper, she had admitted giving birth to the three babies alone at home in Larmor-Plage between 1998 and 2003.

Her partner was not aware of the pregnancies. Both parents are employees of Scapêche, a major fishing vessel owner in France.

The newborns were kept in her freezer until March 2017, when she left Larmor-Plage for Lorient, the newspaper reported.

The remains had been put into freezers in a Scapêche warehouse. It is alleged that the woman had been removing them this week to store them in her new apartment. An investigation is underway.