How abuse in Brothers of Charity special needs schools was exposed – and ignored – 21 years ago

One of the most disturbing findings in the scoping inquiry report in religious-run schools, published on Tuesday, was that a quarter of the 2,395 abuse allegations made by survivors of 308 schools originated in just 17 special needs schools.
A total of 590 allegations involving 190 alleged abusers were made by victims from the 17 schools, a disproportionately large number among the total 884 accused from all 308 schools.
The single highest incidence of abuse reported to the inquiry concerning a single institution was at Lota, a special school run by the Brothers of Charity at Glanmire, Co Cork. There were 166 allegations of abuse made against 50 alleged abusers by people who were at the school.
Dr Margaret Kennedy, a consultant on disability, abuse and child protection who is familiar with the Brothers of Charity, was employed by the Brothers in Galway from 2000. She provided training workshops on client protection for more than 500 of their staff in services provided for people with intellectual disabilities in that county.
She was so disturbed by what she encountered that in 2003 she leaked a report to The Irish Times and then minister for health and children, Micheál Martin, that called for the closure of the Brothers of Charity centre for the intellectually disabled at Kilcornan in Clarinbridge, Co Galway.
“Most residents live in daily fear of attacks from fellow service users [others in care],” the report into the centre found.
“Residents have been the target of severe, persistent assault by fellow residents, and these have been sustained over months and years.”
The then director of the Brothers of Charity in Galway, Patrick McGinley, who commissioned the Kilcornan report, told The Irish Times at the time that Kilcornan was “not unique” when it came to low standards in the residential care of people in Ireland with severe physical and intellectual disabilities.
He expressed particular concern about the centre run by the Brothers in the Renmore suburb of Galway city where people with severe physical and intellectual disabilities were resident.
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According to Tuesday’s scoping inquiry report, there were 119 allegations of abuse against 49 alleged abusers at the Holy Family School in Renmore, run by the Brothers.
Shortly after publication of the Kilcornan report in this newspaper in 2003, Dr Kennedy wrote to the then minister for health expressing concern “about the alleged sexual abuse of large numbers of learning disabled people” at the Kilcornan centre in Clarinbridge, Co Galway.
She explained how she had “been made aware of the likelihood of up to 100 residents being sexually abused there over the years”. Such incidents involved “many by Brothers of Charity, many by other service users who have been so corrupted they simply copy the sexual behaviour that was perpetrated against them”.
Calling on the Government “to take steps to end the reign of terror that appears to be part of learning disabled people’s lives in Irish institutions”, she said there were indications that “learning disabled people have effectively been ‘warehoused’ in Ireland and largely forgotten by the community”.
Responding to Tuesday’s scoping inquiry report, Dr Kennedy said she was “absolutely delighted that the Irish Government is taking seriously” allegations of abuse in special schools. She objected, however, to the term “historical abuse” as survivors lived it every day.
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She wondered at the methodology used by the inquiry in dealing with people from special needs schools as disability could present particular difficulties in establishing allegations.
“To get the story properly, particular expertise is necessary,” she said, noting, for instance, that where deaf people were concerned there could even be different sign languages involved.
Dr Kennedy felt that the Commission of Investigation announced by the Government this week in the wake of the scoping inquiry should also take into account those abusers “exported” to other countries by religious authorities. She gave examples of alleged child abusers sent from Ireland to Liverpool, Scotland and Australia by the Brothers of Charity and where the abuse continued overseas.
The Ryan commission, whose report was published in 2009, heard allegations of abuse from 58 people who were residents in 14 religious-run special needs schools. The schools were not identified.
The commission investigated the abuse of children in St Mary’s Deaf School for Children at Cabra in Dublin, which was run by the Dominican Sisters. In total 21 allegations of abuse were made, 20 against the Sisters and staff involving excessive physical punishment, emotional abuse and neglect, with one allegation of sexual abuse involving a visiting priest.
Also investigated was the Mary Immaculate School for Deaf Children run by the Daughters of the Cross of Liege at Stillorgan in Dublin, about which there were 21 complaints against six of the nuns and two lay staff there. The Ryan report said in 2000/2001 there had been a Garda investigation into sexual and physical abuse at the school, which closed in 1998.