A nun who was in charge of St Joseph's orphanage, Kilkenny, during the 1970s admitted at the High Court yesterday that no investigation was carried out into complaints about the conduct of a house father, now deceased, towards boys at the orphanage.
The complaints were made in a letter of resignation by a care worker. Mr Edward Murphy has told the court he resigned in 1977 because of a failure to deal with his complaints about house father Mr Myles Brady, who is now dead.
The case concerns an action for damages by a man who claims he was sexually abused by Mr Brady when he visited the orphanage as a schoolboy in the mid-1970s. Yesterday, Sister Conception, who was in charge of the orphanage from 1972 to 1986, was cross examined about the resignation of Mr Murphy, now the quality assurance officer in childcare with the South Eastern Health Board.
Mr Murphy has told the court he later raised his concerns about Mr Brady with the deceased Bishop of Ossory, Dr Peter Birch and Sister Stanislaus Kennedy, the then director of Kilkenny Social Services. After the meetings his concerns continued, he said.
In the proceedings, the plaintiff, who now lives in Spain, has sued the orphanage and the Minister for Education. The latter is being sued as being entrusted with the supervision of industrial schools.
Mr Justice O'Higgins has been told the assault is not denied by either the orphanage or Minister.
Yesterday, Mr Patrick McCarthy SC, for the plaintiff, said Mr Murphy had stated in his letter of resignation that he believed the conduct of Mr Brady was inappropriate and that the situation was "highly undesirable and unsafe". Sister Conception agreed that she did not ask Mr Murphy to discuss the contents of his letter.
Asked had she not an obligation to check out the contents of the letter, Sister Conception said Mr Murphy was, at that time, a trainee who had come for experience. She would take more seriously what more trained persons would tell her. She agreed the Department of Education knew of Mr Murphy's resignation although she did not tell them. A short time afterwards Mr Granville, a Department inspector, came to the orphanage. He was aware of the letter and she showed it to him.
In reply to Mr Michael Carson SC, for the Minister, Sister Conception said that, following the departure of another care worker, (now serving a sentence for sexually abusing some of the boys), she telephoned Mr Granville. Mr Carson said there was no record of a communication from Sister Conception to the Department in relation to that man.
Sister Conception said she had asked Mr Granville to visit her to prepare an advertisement for a new care worker. She and Mr Granville later interviewed Mr Brady.
Mr Carson said Mr Granville had records that he visited St Joseph's in February 1976, May 1976 and January 1977 but had no record that he visited in June/July 1976 (following the departure of the convicted care worker). Mr Granville would claim that if he had visited as Sister Conception said, there would have been a report. Sister Conception replied: "That is his statement."
Mr Carson said Mr Granville would claim to have never been present to interview Mr Brady for the job in St Joseph's. Sister Conception said she could not accept that. Mr Brady was the only person whom Mr Granville had ever interviewed with her.
Sister Conception said Mr Granville often came to the orphanage on his way to other places and usually came about 6.30 p.m. He came "fairly often". Mr Carson said Mr Granville would deny attending formally or informally at the orphanage other than the occasions recorded in the Department files.
Sister Conception said she clearly remembered Mr Granville coming to the boys' school at teatime on his way to other locations. On the occasion when she showed him the letter of resignation from Mr Murphy, Mr Granville had arrived out of the blue.
Mr Justice O'Higgins said he could not understand why Sister Conception never confronted or mentioned to the late Mr Brady that not only had Mr Murphy resigned but had resigned because of concerns over Mr Brady's conduct. Sister Conception said she didn't confront Mr Brady. Asked by the judge why not, she said: "Well, I trusted Mr Brady." The hearing continues today.