A Department of Health spokesman has confirmed that a copy of a death certificate for a boy who died in St Joseph's Industrial School in Tralee, Co Kerry, issued by the General Register Office in Dublin, gave a different cause of death to the original certificate issued in Killarney.
The Registrar of Births and Deaths in Killarney, Ms Mary O'Shea, said the death certificate for 16-year-old Joseph Pyke, who died on February 9th, 1958, at the County Hospital, Tralee, where he was transferred from the industrial school, was "Bilateral Pleural Effusion. Septicaemia. Certified".
But a death certificate for the same boy, issued by the General Register Office in Dublin to the Irish Christian Brothers, gave the cause of death as "Bilateral Pleural Effusion. Senility. Certified". The word "Senility" was later officially changed to "Septicaemia".
The Department spokesman explained that details in a Dublin copy of the death certificate had been transcribed inaccurately. When this was discovered the copy was changed to give the correct cause of death, he said.
Allegations about the circumstances of Joseph Pyke's death have been made by Mr John Prior of the Joseph Pyke Memorial Trust. A resident at St Joseph's Industrial School at the same time as the dead boy, he claimed to have witnessed the last beating of Joseph Pyke and, with others resident at the time, continues to believe the boy's death resulted from a carbuncle on his back being burst during that beating, leading to septicaemia.
Discussing Joseph Pyke's death with The Irish Times on Monday last, the Provincial of the Irish Christian Brothers Northern Province, Brother David Gibson, said, quoting from the boy's death certificate, that Joseph Pyke had died of "bilateral pleural effusion". This he understood to mean pneumonia. He did not then mention either "senility" or "septicaemia".
A copy of the Killarney death certificate was seen on Tuesday by The Irish Times. It gave the cause of the boy's death as "Bilateral Pleural Effusion. Septicaemia. Certified".
Yesterday Brother Gibson said: "We have today [November 8th] been informed by the Registrar of Births and Deaths in Dublin that the certificate which gave the death of Joseph Pyke as 'senility certified', from which I was quoting, is inaccurate . . .
"The correct certificate is in the Registrar's office in Killarney and, we understand, states that he died from 'Bilateral Pleural Effusion. Septicaemia Certified'."
He continued: "It is not true I was deliberately quoting selectively from the document . . . The Registrar can only speculate that in the transcription of the death certificate from Killarney to Dublin the inaccurate version was written down. "With regard to Mr John Prior's version of how Joseph Pyke died, I totally refute the suggestion that he died as a result of a beating he received in Tralee. There is no evidence whatsoever for this, and inquiries by the gardaí bear this out. It is our understanding, having consulted eminent medical opinion, that in 98 per cent of cases in the 1950s, 'Bilateral Pleural Effusion' leading to 'Septicaemia' was caused by pneumonia, pleurisy or TB.
"While a burst carbuncle can lead to septicaemia, we are advised that this would be very unusual indeed. The allegations being repeatedly made by Mr Prior regarding the sad death of Joseph Pyke are based totally on conjecture and not on any verifiable fact."
Following an extensive Garda investigation into abuses at the school, more than 100 files were sent to the DPP, 81 detailing sex abuse charges. Four brothers and a former brother were brought to court, including the brother alleged to have beaten Joseph Pyke. He is dead, another was acquitted, another successfully sought judicial review, and two more are seeking the same.