A new sex abuse scandal involving religious orders includes accusations by 230 alleged victims against 77 clerics.
The allegations also include claims by 57 people that they were abused as children at Blackrock College in Dublin from the 1970s.
Two brothers have spoken for the first time publicly about their alleged ordeals.
Read More : Four social welfare payments due this week including big lump sum for thousands
They claimed on RTE radio last night that they were each separately sexually abused on the grounds of Blackrock College from the ages of 12 to 17.
The brothers alleged that their abusers were from the community of the Holy Ghost Order, which is now known as the Irish Spiritans.
The Order has paid out over €5 million in compensation to 12 victims since 2004, according to the Spiritans’ current Provincial leader Fr Martin Kelly.
The brothers’ heart-breaking account was broadcast for the first time on RTE Radio 1 in the latest instalment of the award-winning Documentary on One series.
They revealed how they kept their nightmare a secret for nearly 30 years until they were prompted to contact gardai by the emergence of other church sex abuse scandals.
One of their alleged abusers fought to stop the case reaching court and died in 2010 without ever having faced trial.
A spokesperson for the show said: “Some 233 people have made allegations of abuse against 77 Irish Spiritans in ministries throughout Ireland and overseas.
“In relation to Blackrock College, 57 people have alleged they were abused on the Blackrock campus.
“From the ages of 12 to 17, two brothers were repeatedly sexually abused both in and on the grounds of Blackrock College in south county Dublin.
“Their abusers were from the community of the Holy Ghost Order, now known as Spiritans, at Blackrock College.
“Several court cases ensued as they fought for justice. The two men are the first people to openly speak about abuse at Blackrock College.
“The number of children who were sexually abused on the grounds of Blackrock College is unknown.”
The RTE spokesperson added: “During the 1970s and early 1980s, the brothers were repeatedly abused at various locations on the grounds of Blackrock College, including in the college library, swimming pools, and other buildings.
“In September 1973, the older brother began his secondary education at Blackrock College.
“During his first year, one of the teachers took a special interest in him and gradually began to sexually abuse him.
“The priest who abused him was a Holy Ghost father / Spiritan.
“The abuse took place during private swimming sessions at the pool on the school campus.
“Another priest from Blackrock College also began to abuse the boy. Throughout his abuse, the boy never told anyone.
“The second brother was 12, when he first began to be invited by the same priest to swimming sessions on the grounds of Blackrock College and over the next number of years he too was repeatedly sexually abused.
“For many years neither brother spoke of their abuse, until early 2002 when clerical child sex abuse filled the news headlines.
“This led the brothers to reveal their abuse, first to their parents, and then to one another.
“They made statements to An Garda Siochana which led to multiple charges being brought against their abuser.
“By then, the Spiritan priest was 82 years old and still living on the grounds of Blackrock College.
“He denied the charges made against him and launched a legal case, seeking to halt criminal proceedings.
“In 2007, the courts decided that the criminal case against the brothers’ abuser should be halted. The Spiritan died in 2010, having never had to face trial.
“In 2012, the Spiritans issued a general apology, having been heavily criticised in an audit reviewing child protection practices.
“This audit detailed how serial abusers within the Spiritans went undetected and unchecked, giving them unmonitored access to children during the 1960s, ’70s and ’80s.”
Fr Kelly, the Provincial of the Spiritans, revealed that the Spiritans made “multiple monetary contributions” to alleged abuse victims.
He revealed that all settlements were funded from Spiritan congregation resources and that the Spiritans covered legal fees incurred by its members in connection with their legal representation in criminal cases.
The documentary is now available on rte.ie/podcasts.
READ NEXT:
- Top Kinahan gangster had ‘escape hatch' in Dublin home 'concealed by hanging carpet’
- Ireland weather: Met Eireann's 'damaging' double yellow warning for Monday as wind and ran to batter country
- Explosive new files claim Irish gang behind murder of couple who vanished without a trace
- Pub claps back at outraged woman's complaint over Sunday dinner saying 'you're barred'
- I'm A Celeb viewers in 'utter disbelief' after campmates shock exit from first trial of series
Get breaking news to your inbox by signing up to our newsletter
