The Jesuit order has named 15 deceased members who have been the subject of child sex abuse complaints in order to encourage those who may have been abused by them to come forward and receive help.
The names have been selected from 37 deceased Jesuits known to the order to have been the subject of abuse complaints, with those named being members who met certain criteria, including number of complaints, witnesses and admissions.
Have your say: Did you experience child sexual abuse by the Jesuits?
The following are the named men:
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Fr Rupert Coyle (1896-1978)
A former headmaster at Belvedere College, he was the subject of four child sex abuse complaints, all relating to his time at the Dublin school. As well as teaching at Belvedere he also taught at Mungret College, Limerick.
Fr Shaun Curran (1924-1999)
Another former headmaster at Belvedere, Curran worked as a teacher and in other roles, including in Northern Rhodesia (Chivuna/Chikuni Mission), where he was a prefect of the church, and at Regis College, Toronto, Canada.
[ Fifteen Irish Jesuits ‘credibly accused of child abuse’Opens in new window ]
In Ireland he worked at Mungret College as well as at a church at Gardiner Street, Dublin, and the Jesuit centre in Milltown Park, Dublin. He has been the subject of 18 child sex abuse complaints.
Four sex abuse complaints received during his lifetime were not reported to An Garda Síochána. The first recorded complaint dates from Mungret in 1970 but “his sexual abuse of children ... continued undetected throughout most of his Jesuit life”, the order said. He was “not held to account in any meaningful way”.
Fr Brendan Kearney (1935-2014)
A former teacher in Belvedere and Clongowes Wood schools, Kearney also worked as chaplain at DIT Bolton Street, Dublin, and in roles in St John Baptist church, California; Corpus Christi, Brixton, London, and St James Church, Redondo Beach, California.
He was the subject of two child sex abuse complaints from his time in Belvedere and concerns about him have been raised since 2021 by third parties. The order said it did not know of complaints made against him during his lifetime.
Fr John T Kelly (1906-1977)
There were five complaints against Kelly during the period 1940 to 1955, when he was a teacher at Mungret. He was dismissed from the order in 1956, after which he moved to the Sault Ste-Marie diocese in Ontario, Canada. Kelly also taught at Belvedere and worked at St Ignatius College, Galway. Complaints against Kelly were raised by students in 1955 and 1956, according to the order. “He did not deny what was alleged,” it said. “He was dismissed from the Jesuit order. Pending his dismissal Fr Kelly applied to work as a priest in a Canadian diocese. 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 (1920-2012)
A former teacher at Belvedere who also taught at Mungret, Crescent College Comprehensive, Limerick, and in unspecified locations in Lusaka, Northern Rhodesia, Kelly also had various functions in the United States as well as with churches in Gardiner Street and the Sacred Heart Church, Limerick, as well as at Milltown Park. He was the subject of five complaints, all relating to his time in the US and from the 1970s, 1980s and early 1990s. When a complaint about him was conveyed to the Irish Jesuit province in 1988, by the bishop of the Rockville Centre, in New York, Kelly was moved to a diocese in Los Angeles, with no indication in the order’s records that his history in New York was conveyed to the new diocese. In the early 1990s he was the subject of an arrest warrant in Los Angeles and returned to Ireland. His sentence included an order that he stay out of California, the order said on Wednesday. On his return to Ireland, he was allowed minister in Gardiner Street parish, and was later (1994) moved to the Sacred Heart church in Limerick.
Fr Kevin Laheen (1919-2019)
A teacher at Belvedere, Mungret and Gonzaga College, Dublin, “serious concerns” were raised about him in 1967 when he was giving a school retreat. In 1999 he told the order a complaint against him had been referred to An Garda Síochána. He was not prosecuted but was asked to withdraw from public ministry.
Fr Henry (Harry) Lawlor (1911-1989)
A former teacher at Belvedere, Mungret, Gonzaga and Clongowes, Lawlor also did parish work in Hartford, Connecticut, where he was the subject of a non-specific complaint in 1969 that, the order says, it now believes was related to child sex abuse. Lawlor admitted abuse in 1969, leading to his being removed from teaching, but no restrictions were put on his ministries. Five complaints were received about him subsequent to his death, none relating to his work in Jesuit schools.
Fr John (Jack) Leonard (1912-1992)
A former teacher at Sacred Heart College, Limerick, Clongowes, and Belvedere, Leonard was the subject of four child sex abuse complaints as well as complaints of physical violence, all relating to his time at Belvedere. The order said it knew of the bullying and physical complaints against him at the time, but not of the sex abuse complaints, which came after he died.
Fr Finbarr Lynch (1933-2022)
A former teacher at Mungret and Clongowes, he was also an assistant headmaster in the junior and senior schools at Belvedere. Two sex abuse complaints against him relating to Belvedere date from 2021 and 2022. He died before being brought to trial.
Fr Michael McGrath (1910-1989)
A former teacher at Belvedere, Sacred Heart college and Mungret, he was also a teacher and parish priest at St Ignatius College, Galway, including working at Our Lady’s Boys Club. The two complaints known to the order relate to his time in Galway and date from after he died.
Fr Oliver Joseph O’Brien (1920-1994)
O’Brien taught at Clongowes, Belvedere and Sacred Heart, worked in the church in Gardiner Street and moved to Adelaide, Australia, in July 1993. He was moved from Belvedere to Gardiner Street in 1961. A 1965 letter from the then provincial related to child sex abuse at the junior school at Belvedere. O’Brien admitted an allegation made in 1962, and was moved to Sacred Heart. In relation to both moves, there is no record of anyone being informed of the complaints. Following a 1965 complaint relating to Sacred Heart, he was moved to Australia, with the Australian branch of the order being told of his “difficulties” at the two Irish schools, despite which he was accepted by the Australian province, the order said.
Br Edward O’Sullivan (1920-1996)
O’Sullivan had supervisory and other roles at Mungret, Sacred Heart and Gardiner Street as well as at the Jesuit retreat house in Tullamore. He was the subject of two child sex abuse complaints, one relating to his time as sacristan at St Francis Xavier Church, Gardiner Street while the other related to his time at the retreat house in Tullamore. The complaints were not made during his lifetime.
Fr Diarmuid Ó Péicín (1916-2008)
A former teacher at Clongowes, Mungret and Sacred Heart, he also worked in other roles including at St Stanislaus College, Tullamore, and parishes in Birmingham and London. In 1964 a superior of a religious congregation raised a complaint about his sexual conduct with schoolgirls during a school retreat. Further complaints were made against him during his career.
Br Douglas A Pill (1918-2003)
A gardener and assistant librarian, Pill worked in St Stanislaus College and Milltown Park and was the subject of two complaints of child sex abuse from his time in Milltown, made after he had died.
Fr James Stephenson (1906-1979)
Stephenson worked as a teacher at Clongowes, Belvedere, Sacred Heart and Mungret and also worked in the Hatch Hall university student residence in Leeson Street/Hatch Street, Dublin, and Gardiner Street church. Four complaints against him from the 1950s and 1960s relate to Sacred Heart and Gardiner Street
Anyone with concerns is invited to contact safeguarding@jesuit.ie, or 083 0874254.
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