Vincentians disclose 45 claims of abuse against priests in schools and parishes

The Vincentian Community, which ran several schools including Castleknock College, has said more than 40 people have alleged they were sexually abused by priests working for the religious order, in some cases in their schools.

The order has paid out more than €1 million in compensation to settle legal claims from people who alleged they had been sexually abused as children.

In a statement, the order said 45 allegations had been made against nine Vincentian priests who were deceased.

Seventeen of those alleged victims said they had been abused in the schools run by the order, with one of those past pupils alleging he was physically abused.

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The statement follows a report in The Irish Times of alleged sexual abuse in Castleknock College, west Dublin.

Tom Maher (59), a man who is believed to be the first person to publicly allege sexual abuse at the fee-paying school, said he was sexually assaulted by a priest teaching there on two separate occasions in the 1970s.

The alleged perpetrator, who is living abroad where he had been serving as a priest until recent years, said he had no comment to make when questioned about the allegations.

The Vincentians confirmed it had received one report about the priest in question. “This allegation is currently under review by the statutory authorities and the priest in question is not in active ministry,” they said.

The religious order said over the past 15 years it had received allegations of abuse by priests at Castleknock College, St Paul’s in Raheny, St Peter’s National School in Phibsborough, and St Patrick’s College, Co Armagh. The statement said some of the alleged abuse dated back to the 1950s.

The Vincentians said in light of recent revelations of child abuse at boarding schools, such as Blackrock and Castleknock, “it is possible that the congregation may receive further allegations”.

Two further allegations of abuse had been made against an employee of the order who was not a teacher in its schools, which dated back to the 1960s.

The order said 29 allegations of abuse it had received related to Fr Donal Gallagher, who was previously criticised in the Murphy report into sexual abuse in the Dublin archdiocese of the Catholic Church.

The statement said the congregation has paid €1 million in compensation to alleged abuse victims, as well as spending €430,000 in associated legal fees and costs.

“As all the priests were deceased at the time of the allegations, no legal fees were paid in defending any cases,” it said.

“We deeply regret and sincerely apologise for the suffering people have endured or experienced as a result of abuse,” the religious congregation said.

“We ask any other person who has suffered abuse at any of our schools or ministries to contact us or the relevant authorities. We wish to assure those who make contact that we will assist as best we can,” it said.

The statement added concerns had also been reported about a further three priests who had worked in its schools, but no specific allegations had been made against the men. Someone had expressed concerns about a priest in another of the order’s ministries, who was still alive, but no allegation had been received, it said.

The Vincentians said its current child protection policies were “rigorously implemented” and audited, to do everything possible to ensure no such abuse could occur today.