Letterfrack Industrial School, established by the Christian Brothers in 1887 in a remote area of Connemara to discipline and mould unruly boys from the poorer classes, became an effective money-making machine for 87 years until its closure in 1974.

It did little to reform or educate the children placed in its care.

In recent years allegations of sexual and physical abuse at the institution, which culminated in the exhumation in Kilkenny last Wednesday morning of the remains of 13year-old William Delaney, have led gardai in Clifden to conduct the longest-running investigation in the history of the State into the systematic and institutionalised abuse of children. A murder investigation has, as yet, been ruled out by senior gardai as they await the findings of assistant State Pathologist Dr Marie Cassidy, which are expected in the coming days.

Treated like slaves, boys as young as six worked long hours at various "industries" to make profits for the religious order charged with their welfare and development. The reformatory was opened in 1887 after the Archdiocese of Tuam bought it from the Quaker Ellis family. The family were renowned locally for the help they gave to families during the Famine.

The Archbishop of Tuam at the time entrusted the running of the reformatory for Catholic boys to the Christian Brothers and its gruesome reputation soon spread all over Ireland. Today, grown men still remember the threat of being sent to Letterfrack if they misbehaved. Horror stories spread far and wide, striking fear into the heart of any young boy who dared to step out of line.

If a boy mitched from school, raided an orchard or simply came from a disadvantaged or broken home during the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s, he often ended up in Letterfrack or a similar institution dotted around Ireland at the time.

Local people prefer to remember Letter frack as a self-sufficient industrial hub with its own farm, bakery, shoemaker, carpenter, blacksmith and tailor, which served the local community well and made a good pro fit for the brothers. They have been shocked to learn of its more sinister side.

To its inmates, Letterfrack became synonymous with hard labour, rigorous discipline, corporal punishment and sexual abuse. Stories abound of boys escaping into the surrounding mountains and being sent back by the courts only to be severely punished. A small graveyard attached to the reformatory and which is now within the boundary of the National Park, is a poignant reminder of those brutal years.

Scores of boys who died in the reformatory are buried there and their names inscribed on a simple memorial plaque.

The imposing and remote building, set in mountainous terrain, , housed up to 200 boys aged from six to 16 at any given time. It was closed down in 1974, following the publication of the Kennedy report on such institutions.

In April 1996 the first complaint by a former inmate was made to gardai in Clifden. The list of complainants soon grew to 135 as seven gardai travelled around Ireland to interview former inmates.

As the investigation gathered momentum and the seriousness of the allegations became clear, a special incident room was set up at Clifden Garda station. Detectives trawled through enrolment records of Letterfrack's 87-year history and cross-referenced death certificates stored in the archives at University College Hospital, Galway, with the names of boys buried in the small graveyard near the institution.

To date, there have been 19 arrests of Christian Brothers, former Christian Brothers and lay people from the locality. In the last 18 months, files have been sent to the DPP's office, detailing horrific allegations. Gardai are still awaiting the DPP's directions but prosecutions are expected. The post-mortem examination of William Delaney's remains has yet to establish the cause of death. Fellow inmates claim in their statements to gardai that he was severely beaten about the head by a named person in authority before his return to Kilkenny in July 1970 for the summer holidays.

A brief examination carried out by Dr Cassidy at St Luke's Hospital in Kilkenny last Wednesday indicated the boy had suffered trauma to his head and neck. It is not yet clear if the anomalies were a result of an assault or were caused by a meningincoccal infection; his family were told he had died from meningitis.

Supt Tony Dowd, who is in charge of the investigation, is confident that the cause of the boy's death can be established following further tests of samples taken by Dr Cassidy. "A murder investigation has not been initiated at this stage and we are awaiting Dr Cassidy's final report on the matter," he said yesterday.