Five primary schools and three secondary schools in Galway are included in a list of 308 institutions across the country where allegations of serious abuse have been recorded.
The publication of this report has prompted ministers to announce a commission of inquiry into the almost 2,400 individual complaints against 884 alleged abusers across hundreds of religious orders who once ran or continue to run schools nationwide.
The Brothers of Charity’s special school in Renmore, Holy Family School, has 119 allegations against a shocking 49 alleged abusers. Only one other special school in Ireland, also run by the Brothers of Charity, in Cork, has anything like these figures.
The report’s author, lawyer Mary O’Toole SC, told reporters there was a “particularly high number of allegations in special schools.”
Scoil Naisiunta Iognaid in Galway city, known as ‘the Jes primary’ has two allegations and one alleged abuser. St Patrick’s National School is also listed in Galway city, but no details are included.
Primary schools in County Galway are Tuam CBS Primary with nine allegations and four alleged abusers, and St Brendan’s Boys National School in Loughrea, listed as having one allegation and one alleged abuser.
Three secondary schools are listed in Galway. Colaiste Iognaid, ‘The Jes’, in Galway city with three allegations and one alleged abuser is ran by the Society of Jesus, known as the Jesuits. Kylemore Abbey (Scoil Aine ) in Connemara was run by Benedictine nuns, with two allegations and two alleged abusers. The Christian Brothers’ secondary school in Tuam has two allegations, and two alleged abusers.
The figures were supplied to the Scoping Inquiry by the religious orders themselves, in response to requests for analysis of recorded allegations.
It is likely that the actual number of allegations exceeds figures provided by religious orders because of presumed under-reporting of child sexual abuse. There is also a possibility of more schools in County Galway to be identified as not all orders have broken down their figures to individual school level.
Minister for Education Norma Foley called the report a “harrowing document”.
A HSE-funded telephone counselling service for survivors of childhood abuse has extended its opening hours until 9pm, seven days per week, until Tuesday, October 8 in the wake of the Scoping Report’s publication. Connect Counselling can be reached on freephone 1800 477 477.
