Second complaint made to gardaí about alleged abuse at Castleknock College

A second complaint has been made to An Garda Síochána about historical alleged abuse by a former priest in the west Dublin fee-paying school Castleknock College.

A past pupil, Tom Maher (59), came forward publicly last November to allege he had been sexually abused on two occasions in the 1970s by a priest in the school which is run by the Vincentian Community.

In recent weeks, a second past pupil of the secondary school has made a report to gardaí over alleged abuse by the same priest, according to a Garda source.

Alleged assault

Mr Maher alleged in his case the priest assaulted him on both occasions under the guise of treating a groin injury picked up playing sports.

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The past pupil said the first incident took place while he was naked after showering following training, while the second occurred in the priest’s bedroom.

His alleged abuser, who is living abroad where he had been serving as a priest until recent years, previously made no comment to The Irish Times when questioned about the claims.

Mr Maher reported the alleged abuse to the Garda in late 2021. However, he did not wish to pursue the case further at the time as he feared it would be a difficult and lengthy process.

Fr Paschal Scallon, Irish provincial of the Vincentians, told Mr Maher in a December 13th, 2022 email, that during a recent canonical inquiry into his allegations, the priest accepted the two interactions took place but offered a different interpretation of the events.

Correspondence from the religious order said the accused had maintained he was simply “dealing appropriately with a sports injury”.

“The accused agrees that by the standards of today, this behaviour is completely inappropriate and he would not now behave in this fashion,” said Fr Scallon.

The correspondence said the priest noted that the events took place in the 1970s when school sports teams “did not have access to physiotherapists and doctors as they do today” to treat minor injuries.

The Vincentian provincial told the alleged victim the report he received from the canonical process stated it was “not possible to provide further evidence to shed light on the circumstances and the motivation behind what occurred”.

The priest accused of abusing Mr Maher left the school several years after the incident and moved abroad. He started serving in a church overseas, not connected to the Vincentian order.

Vincentian Community

The accused did not respond to requests for comment on his response to the church’s canonical inquiry into Mr Maher’s allegations.

The Vincentian Community, which also runs St Paul’s secondary school in Raheny and St Peter’s National School in Phibsborough, late last year disclosed 46 people had previously reported being allegedly abused by priests of the order. Seventeen of those alleged victims said they had been abused in the order’s schools.

The Government has committed to holding an inquiry into alleged abuse in schools, following revelations late last year of past abuse in Spiritan-run Blackrock College.

Department of Education officials are still working out what form an inquiry might take, with sources stating a module-based approach is one of the main options being considered.