THIRTEEN out of 15 dead Jesuit priests, who were named last week by the religious order as being credible paedophiles, taught in schools in Limerick, the Limerick Post has discovered.
Despite one of the abusers, Fr Oliver Joseph O’Brien, admitting his guilt, he was shepherded out of Limerick to a serve in a Jesuit ministry in Adelaide, Australia, this newspaper can reveal.
Most of the 15 were moved around Jesuit secondary schools and ministries in Ireland and abroad where they allegedly sexually assaulted and physically harmed boys and girls.
In some of these cases, schools and parishes were not informed of prior allegations against the priests in question. In other cases, such as O’Brien, they were accepted into the Jesuit fold, despite prior concerns and knowledge around their crimes against children.
The Limerick Post studied a report published by the Jesuits on February 12, which included the names of 14 deceased Jesuits, as recommended by an independent working group established by the Order, which examined the files of deceased Jesuits against whom complaints of child sexual abuse had been made.
The Order also published the names of the priests, plus a 15th Jesuit about whom additional information later became available, in order to encourage victims to come forward and receive help from the Jesuits’ safeguarding team.
Last year a redress scheme drawn up by the Jesuits to compensate victims of the late serial paedophile priest, Fr Joseph Marmion, who taught at Crescent College in Limerick (also known as Sacred Heart College SJ), previously located at The Crescent in Limerick City in the 1950s and 1960s.
The 13 priests who taught in Limerick and whom the Jesuits believe to be “credible” paedophiles are:
Fr Finbarr Lynch (1933-2022)
Fr Kevin Laheen (1919-2019)
Fr Patrick Kelly (1920-2012)
Fr Diarmuid Ó Péicín (1916-2008)
Fr Shaun Curran (1924-1999)
Br Edward O’Sullivan (1920-1996)
Fr Oliver Joseph O’Brien (1920-1994)
Fr John A “Jack” Leonard (1912-1992)
Fr Henry “Harry” Lawlor (1911-1989)
Fr Michael McGrath (1910-1989)
Fr James Stephenson (1906-1979)
Fr Rupert Coyle (1896-1978)
Fr John T Kelly (1906-1977)
The remaining two named priests, who did not work in Limerick, are Fr Brendan Kearney (1935-2014) and Br Douglas A Pill (1918-2003).
Fr Oliver Joseph O’Brien
The Jesuits said they had received seven complaints of child sexual abuse, and a further concern was raised by a third party, against Fr Oliver O’Brien relating to his time as a teacher in Sacred Heart College in Limerick (later Crescent College); Belvedere College, Dublin; and Gardiner Street Church in Dublin.
O’Brien was moved from Belvedere to Gardiner Street Church in 1961, and a letter written in 1965 by the then Jesuit Provincial references unspecified concerns regarding Fr O’Brien’s behaviour in the Junior School, Belvedere College, which the order stated, “we now know was referring to child sexual abuse”.
Despite this, the independent report concluded there is no record of anyone at Gardiner Street Church being informed of Fr O’Brien’s abuse whilst at Belvedere College.
A further complaint of child sexual abuse was received in 1962 while O’Brien was working in Gardiner Street Church, and on foot of that complaint, O’Brien admitted his guilt and was moved to the Sacred Heart College in Limerick.
“There is no record of anyone being informed of the complaints made against him. Following a complaint made in 1965 whilst at the Sacred Heart College, Fr O’Brien requested a transfer to the Jesuit Australian Province and this move was facilitated by the Irish Province,” the report states.
The Australian Provincial was informed by the Irish Provincial of O’Brien’s “difficulties” at two schools, but he was accepted into the Australian Province.
The complaints against O’Brien were only reported to the Gardaí after his death, the report found.
Fr James Stephenson
The Jesuits said they were aware of four child sexual abuse complaints against Fr James Stephenson, relating to his time as a teacher at Sacred Heart College Limerick and to Gardiner Street Church Dublin during the 1950s and 1960s.
Stephenson also worked as a teacher at Mungret College in Limerick, but there are no known complaints of abuse against him in respect of his time there.
The Jesuits said they were “not aware of any child sexual abuse complaints having been made against Fr James Stephenson SJ during his lifetime”.
Fr Shaun Curran
The Order said it received 20 child sexual abuse complaints against Fr Shaun Curran, six while he was alive, however it did not contact Gardaí at the time.
“Curran was not held to account in any meaningful way in relation to child sexual abuse,” the report stated.
A complaint was made against Curran when he was teaching at Mungret College in 1970 and he was “moved” to Milltown Park in Dublin, however “there is no record of what other action if any was taken to address this complaint”.
Curran “continued to minister in the usual way, apparently without any restrictions. He was able to present as a priest in good standing, and this meant his sexual abuse of children also continued undetected throughout most of his Jesuit life,” the report stated.
The Order received complaints against Curran in 1991 and 1993, however it “did not report any complaints made against Fr Curran to the statutory authorities until 2002, three years after his death”.
“The Order also recently learned from a complainant that they disclosed abuse by Fr Shaun Curran to a local superior in 1966. The Order has no record of this disclosure and is therefore unable to say what happened in consequence of it, though his ministry does not appear to have been restricted in any way.”
Fr John T Kelly
Between 1955 and 1956, students attending Mungret College made five separate complaints of sexual abuse by Fr John T Kelly, who was working as a teacher and a Superior and Bursar at the school.
Kelly’s abuse of the students occurred from 1940 to 1955, he was spoken to the by school’s Provincial (head) in 1956.
“He did not deny what was alleged. He was dismissed from the Jesuit Order,” the report revealed.
Pending his dismissal, Kelly applied to work as a priest in a Canadian diocese. Even though “information about his behaviour was shared by the Order with the diocese at the time … Fr Kelly went on to work in the diocese in Canada”.
Fr Patrick Kelly
A total of five complaints of child sexual abuse were made against Fr Patrick Kelly, all relating to his work with the Jesuits in the USA during the 1970s, 1980s, and early 1990s.
The allegations came to light in 1988 while Kelly was working in New York. The then Bishop of Rockville Centre terminated Kelly’s appointment and notified the Irish Jesuit Province who “allowed” Kelly to go and work in Our Lady of Lourdes Church Tujunga, Los Angeles, California.
“There is no indication that his history of complaint at the Diocese of Rockville Center, New York, was notified to the Diocese of LA,” the report found.
In 1991, a warrant for Kelly’s arrest was issued in Los Angeles regarding a child sexual abuse complaint made against him in the course of his ministry there.
Kelly returned to Ireland on foot of the LA criminal charge, and from Ireland, he entered a “no contest” plea.
“His sentence included the requirement that he ‘stay out’ of California,” the report found.
Kelly was “permitted by the Irish Provincial to minister in Gardiner Street parish, Dublin” before he was “moved to the Sacred Heart Church in Limerick in 1994”.
The report found that there was “no record” of Kelly’s history of child sex abuse being communicated to his superiors in Limerick.
It was in 2002, “on receipt of new complaints from the USA, the then Provincial removed him from his public ministry in Limerick, returned him to Dublin, and required him to cease his public ministry”.
“The Provincial also informed the Gardaí and statutory authorities in Ireland of the US allegations against Fr Kelly.”
Fr Kevin Laheen
In 1967, a third party conveyed “serious concerns” to the Jesuit order about Fr Kevin Laheen’s behaviour when he was giving a school retreat.
In 1991, Laheen, who taught at Mungret College, informed the Jesuits that a complaint of child sexual abuse had been made to the Gardaí about him and that this was under investigation by Gardaí.
The independent report found that a complaint by a third party, relating to the 1960s but received after Laheen’s death, was also referenced in documents, but that there was “no record of any action being taken against Fr Laheen regarding the complaint raised in 1967”.
“Following the complaint made to the Gardaí in late 1999, the DPP decided not to prosecute” and the Jesuits requested Laheen “withdraw from all public ministry and involvement with minors”.
Fr Henry “Harry” Lawlor
The Jesuits first became aware of Fr Henry (Harry) Lawlor’s abuse in 1969, which he admitted to the order.
“He was removed from teaching but there is no evidence of the information regarding his abuse being communicated and no restrictions were put on his subsequent ministries,” the report found.
Six total complaints were made against Lawlor, including one, after he left teaching at Mungret College, while he was ministering in the Diocese of Hartford, Connecticut, US, in 1969.
Lawlor subsequently returned to Ireland and worked as director at Crusaders of the Blessed Sacrament at the Scared Heart Church in Limerick.
Five complaints of child sexual abuse were against him in Ireland, none relating to his work in Jesuit schools, were received subsequent to his death in 1989.
Fr John A (Jack) Leonard
Fr John A Leonard worked as a teacher in Sacred Heart College (later Crescent College) and while there are no known complaints against him regarding his time there, the report found that four complaints of child sexual abuse and physical violence were made against him following his death in respect of the time after he moved from Limerick to Belvedere College.
The Jesuits order acknowledged that Leonard’s “bullying and physically abusive behaviour was known in the school at the time”.
Fr Finbarr Lynch
While there are no known complaints against the late Fr Finbarr Lynch in respect of his time as a teacher at Mungret Colllege, the report found two complaints of child sexual abuse and two complaints of physical abuse against him relating to the time after he left Limerick to take up a position of assistant headmaster at Belvedere College. These complaints were received in 2021 and 2022 respectively and were reported to the Gardaí and Tusla.
Lynch was required to step aside from public ministry on receipt of the complaint in 2021 and not to have unsupervised contact with minors.
After a complainant gave a statement to the Gardaí, the DPP initiated a prosecution against Lynch on a charge of indecent assault, but Lynch died before the trial could take place.
Fr Michael McGrath
While there are no known complaints of abuse against Fr Michael McGrath in respect of his time as a teacher at Sacred Heart College. There were two complaints of child sexual abuse made against him relating to his ministry after he moved from Limerick to Galway, which were made following his death.
Br Edward O’Sullivan
The report found there have been two child sexual abuse complaints made against Br Edward O’Sullivan, who worked as a teacher at Sacred Heart College, relating to his time in the Jesuit Retreat House in Rahan, County Offaly, and at St Francis Xavier Church, Gardiner Street, Dublin.
The Jesuits said they were “not aware of any child sexual abuse complaints having been made against Br Edward O’Sullivan SJ during his lifetime.”
Fr Diarmuid Ó Péicín
The Jesuits received two complaints of child sexual abuse by Fr Diarmuid Ó’Péicín, who taught boys at Mungret College and later on at Sacred Heart College, and a third complaint by a third party, prior to Ó’Péicín’s death in 2008.
The report found that in 1964 the Superior of a religious congregation raised a complaint with the Jesuit Provincial about Ó’Péicín’s “conduct with schoolgirls during a school retreat … considered child sexual abuse”.
While there is a record that Ó’Péicín “was to be withdrawn from school retreat work”, the report subsequently found “no information showing that any follow up in this regard happened with him”.
“Ó’Péicín subsequently had a complaint of child sexual abuse made against him in 2004 and another complaint in 2005. In 2004, he was required to step aside from public ministry, and the Order reported the allegations to the Gardaí and the HSE. Following a Garda investigation, the DPP issued a direction not to prosecute.”
Fr Rupert Coyle
There have been four child sexual abuse complaints made against Fr Rupert Coyle plus a number of additional concerns about his abusive behaviour were also raised with the Jesuits.
All complaints, which were not made while Coyle was alive, relate to his time in Belvedere College.
No complaints have been received by the order in respect of Coyle’s time as a teacher in Mungret College, where he was based prior to him moving to Belvedere.
Apology
Jesuit Provincial Fr Shane Daly SJ said the Jesuit Order was pursuing a process of acknowledging child abuse perpetrated by Jesuits over the past 70 years, and that the process is one of accountability, transparency, and making amends.
“We are truly ashamed that innocent young people were abused by those Jesuits who were supposed to be serving them and caring for them. To learn that much of their abuse could have been avoided, had timely and necessary action been taken by those to whom the abuse was made known, must surely compound their pain,” said Fr Daly.
“We put the good name of the institution before their suffering and for this we are truly sorry.
“The Jesuits are taking this opportunity to convey a message to any person who, as a child, was harmed by any Jesuit, that should you wish to make contact, we are ready to hear from you, we want to hear from you, and we want to try to make amends.”
Anyone impacted by this story can contact the Jesuit Safeguarding services on [email protected], the helpline on 083 087 4254, or the Jesuit Provincialate reception on 01 4987333.
