Court papers solve Dublin mystery

A young Australian woman found wandering in a distressed state on a Dublin street has twice been convicted on deception charges in Queensland.

The woman, known as Samantha, is being cared for by Irish health workers after a court heard she had a history of psychiatric issues and her life would be at risk if she was released.

Court documents reveal the woman was known to Queensland police, and was convicted on two occasions in 2010.

A High Court judge in Dublin this week ruled an initial care order imposed when it was believed the woman was a minor should stay in place until today to give medics a chance to further assess her condition.

After initially fearing she may have been a teenage victim of sex trafficking, Irish police believe the 25-year-old was visiting relatives in Ireland before being discovered outside the Dublin GPO in O'Connell St on October 10.

"We can now confirm that the lady was not trafficked here and had in fact travelled here some months ago," a senior police officer said.

Australian police are assisting Irish authorities in their investigation.

It's been reported her family will travel to Ireland from Australia.

Sydney restaurant manager Chris Nunes said Samantha worked for her two years ago for four or five months.

"I knew that she had some issues, that's why we let her go," Ms Nunes said.

"She was a lovely girl. There was nothing I could say that she was a horrible person or anything, that's why I gave her the opportunity."

When Samantha was found last month, police were unable to get any substantive information from her for weeks and she communicated on a number of occasions by drawing.

The Irish Independent reported she was "fretful of any engagement with officialdom" and "extremely nervous around anyone in a uniform".

Samantha was identified after an unprecedented step to release a picture of her.

Irish police went to court last week and explained several weeks of investigation and 115 separate lines of inquiry turned up no leads.

- AAP