Support from readers like you keeps The Journal open.
You are visiting us because we have something you value. Independent, unbiased news that tells the truth. Advertising revenue goes some way to support our mission, but this year it has not been enough.
If you've seen value in our reporting, please contribute what you can, so we can continue to produce accurate and meaningful journalism. For everyone who needs it.
A JESUIT ORDER has received 93 complaints of sexual, physical and emotional abuse by the late priest and teacher Joseph Marmion.
A narrative record of Marmion’s abuse of children has been released by the Society of Jesus, documenting abuse by Marmion at schools including Belvedere College in Dublin, Clongowes Wood College in Co Kildare and at Crescent College in Limerick.
It details how the Jesuit Order dealt with the allegations and the response of the order from when the first allegation of child sexual abuse was made, up until the present day.
It also names for the first time two other priests who were the subject of numerous complaints of child sexual abuse – but who carried on working with children.
According to the report, titled ‘Fr Joseph Marmion SJ – His abuse, the harm caused, and Jesuit accountability’, more than two-thirds of the alleged abuse by Marmion took place at Belvedere College.
Of the 93 complaints of abuse received against Marmion, 14 relate to Crescent College, 14 to Clongowes Wood College and 65 to Belvedere College. 45 of the 93 complaints received from 1977 related to child sexual abuse.
The narrative record noted that Marmion may have benefitted due family and social connections in the order, even though concerns had been raised about his membership going back to the 1940s.
More than one respondent pointed to Marmion being a grandnephew of Dom Columba Marmion, a priest of the Archdiocese of Dublin who was beatified in 2000.
Irish Jesuit Provincial Shane Daly said past pupils had been “horrifically abused”, and praised the steering committee which compiled the report for its work.
Daly paid tribute to the former pupils who had the “courage and generosity”, acknowledging that it likely came at great personal cost for each victim.
To those past pupils also I say a profound ‘thank you.’ Your accounts are harrowing, the lasting effects of Fr Marmion’s abuse are shocking, the enormity of it is hard to read and absorb.
The Society of Jesus asked victims of Joseph Marmion to engage with the order and a restorative justice programme was established
Marmion died in 2000 aged 75.
In 2022, a redress scheme was announced by the three Jesuit Colleges in Ireland in order to compensate people who suffered abuse.
The narrative has been compiled on behalf of the Joint Past Pupils – Jesuit Steering Group, comprised of representatives of past pupils and of the Jesuit Order. A key objective of their work was to have the experiences of past pupils who were abused by Fr Joseph Marmion SJ, ‘heard, acknowledged and validated’.
It records abuse committed by Marmion in classrooms, while taking confession and during school trips.
The order has also formed a three-member working group, involving a child psychologist, a social worker and retired Supreme Court judge, who will work with the Jesuits on future naming of alleged abusers.
Two priests named
Along with the record of Marmion’s abuse, the Jesuit Order has today decided to name two other ex-priests who were accused repeatedly of abusing children.
Both Fr Paul Andrews and Fr Dermot Casey were directors of St Declan’s Special School and Child Guidance Centre, Northumberland Road, Dublin.
Casey, who served as director at the school from 1958 to 1977, has been the subject of 17 complaints of child sexual abuse to date.
“These complaints were received during the period 1975 to 2023 and relate to events dating from the 1950s through to 1977,” today’s report said.
A formal church investigation was started in December 1994 but did not proceed.
Advertisement
Despite the complaints that had been made against him, Casey remained “a priest in good standing” at the time of his death in 1997.
Fr Paul Andrews
The narrative record for Marmion references Fr Paul Andrews as being the “subject of a complaint of child sexual abuse” in 1991. This complaint was repeated in 1994.
From the 1970s to 1990s, Andrews was a well-known psychologist who specialised in working with children and parents, while also appearing on radio and television to speak about child development issues, parenting and psychology.
According to today’s report, Andrews had an “important role in the story of Jesuit failures” in relation to Marmion.
“He was the person to whom was made, in September 1977 the first known disclosure that Fr Marmion had sexually abused children,” the report said.
Andrews was Director of St Declan’s Special School from 1977 until he resigned at the end of 1994, after the renewed complaint about his alleged abuse of a boy.
A preliminary internal investigation by the Jesuit Order found that Andrews’ account gave “cause for concern” about his credibility and defence against the allegations, and that the report advised in February 1995 that the Order contact gardaí and the Health Board.
However, there was no movement until the end of that year when the complainant again contacted the Order about Andrews.
No prosecution
Over the course of the following 15 months a Garda investigation was conducted but in 1997, the Director of Public Prosecutions decided that a prosecution would not be brought.
Andrews had been asked to cease providing counselling to children and although he did not resume his role at St Declan’s, the priest was permitted to resume his work as a psychologist and continued to provide counselling and to conduct assessments of children.
“Knowledge of the existence of the complaint against Fr Andrews, and of the Garda investigation, was confined to those Jesuits who were directly advising the Provincial,” today’s report said.
“This meant that neither rank and file Jesuits, nor lay staff working in Jesuit ministries, had any knowledge of the fact that Fr Andrews had become the subject of complaint.”
Andrews died in November 2018.
‘Source of deep shame’
The head of the order in Ireland, Shane Daly, said it is a “source of deep shame” for the Jesuits to see that when crimes of abuse by its own members were first reported, it “placed the reputation of the order and the person accused above the concerns of those who had been abused, their well-being, and their needs”.
“As was said before, things were done that should never have been done, and things that should have been done were not.”
Dally added that the information was being provided now because of its importance to the present-day St Declan’s school community, to past pupils and their parents, and to many others with long connection to St Declan’s.
Today’s report has been welcomed by One in Four, a support service for victims of abuse.
Chief executive Maeve Lewis welcomed the order’s decision to name both Andrews and Casey.
She said it was noteworthy that, “unlike some other religious congregations, the Jesuits are making every effort” to provide support and compensation to the men who experienced abuse in childhood.
“The report details the now familiar litany of failures by a religious congregation to deal effectively with allegations of abuse against its members, placing other children at risk,” Lewis said.
“However, we commend the Jesuit order for its transparent acknowledgement of its failures. It is important that the order decided to name Paul Andrews and Dermot Casey in the hopes that this might encourage other survivors to come forward.”
Readers like you are keeping these stories free for everyone...
A mix of advertising and supporting contributions helps keep paywalls away from valuable information like this article.
Over 5,000 readers like you have already stepped up and support us with a monthly payment or a once-off donation.
Mick O'Dwyer, legendary Kerry GAA manager and footballer, has died aged 88
Updated
1 hr ago
23.1k
27
Live Blog
EU will try launch US tariff negotiations with Lutnick tomorrow, commissioner says
Updated
6 mins ago
14.6k
As it happened
Trump hits EU goods with 20% tariff and rails against foreigners 'pillaging' US
Updated
12 hrs ago
116k
208
Your Cookies. Your Choice.
Cookies help provide our news service while also enabling the advertising needed to fund this work.
We categorise cookies as Necessary, Performance (used to analyse the site performance) and Targeting (used to target advertising which helps us keep this service free).
We and our 161 partners store and access personal data, like browsing data or unique identifiers, on your device. Selecting Accept All enables tracking technologies to support the purposes shown under we and our partners process data to provide. If trackers are disabled, some content and ads you see may not be as relevant to you. You can resurface this menu to change your choices or withdraw consent at any time by clicking the Cookie Preferences link on the bottom of the webpage .Your choices will have effect within our Website. For more details, refer to our Privacy Policy.
We and our vendors process data for the following purposes:
Use precise geolocation data. Actively scan device characteristics for identification. Store and/or access information on a device. Personalised advertising and content, advertising and content measurement, audience research and services development.
Cookies Preference Centre
We process your data to deliver content or advertisements and measure the delivery of such content or advertisements to extract insights about our website. We share this information with our partners on the basis of consent. You may exercise your right to consent, based on a specific purpose below or at a partner level in the link under each purpose. Some vendors may process your data based on their legitimate interests, which does not require your consent. You cannot object to tracking technologies placed to ensure security, prevent fraud, fix errors, or deliver and present advertising and content, and precise geolocation data and active scanning of device characteristics for identification may be used to support this purpose. This exception does not apply to targeted advertising. These choices will be signaled to our vendors participating in the Transparency and Consent Framework.
Manage Consent Preferences
Necessary Cookies
Always Active
These cookies are necessary for the website to function and cannot be switched off in our systems. They are usually only set in response to actions made by you which amount to a request for services, such as setting your privacy preferences, logging in or filling in forms. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not then work.
Targeting Cookies
These cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.
Functional Cookies
These cookies enable the website to provide enhanced functionality and personalisation. They may be set by us or by third party providers whose services we have added to our pages. If you do not allow these cookies then these services may not function properly.
Performance Cookies
These cookies allow us to count visits and traffic sources so we can measure and improve the performance of our site. They help us to know which pages are the most and least popular and see how visitors move around the site. All information these cookies collect is aggregated and therefore anonymous. If you do not allow these cookies we will not be able to monitor our performance.
Store and/or access information on a device 110 partners can use this purpose
Cookies, device or similar online identifiers (e.g. login-based identifiers, randomly assigned identifiers, network based identifiers) together with other information (e.g. browser type and information, language, screen size, supported technologies etc.) can be stored or read on your device to recognise it each time it connects to an app or to a website, for one or several of the purposes presented here.
Personalised advertising and content, advertising and content measurement, audience research and services development 143 partners can use this purpose
Use limited data to select advertising 113 partners can use this purpose
Advertising presented to you on this service can be based on limited data, such as the website or app you are using, your non-precise location, your device type or which content you are (or have been) interacting with (for example, to limit the number of times an ad is presented to you).
Create profiles for personalised advertising 83 partners can use this purpose
Information about your activity on this service (such as forms you submit, content you look at) can be stored and combined with other information about you (for example, information from your previous activity on this service and other websites or apps) or similar users. This is then used to build or improve a profile about you (that might include possible interests and personal aspects). Your profile can be used (also later) to present advertising that appears more relevant based on your possible interests by this and other entities.
Use profiles to select personalised advertising 83 partners can use this purpose
Advertising presented to you on this service can be based on your advertising profiles, which can reflect your activity on this service or other websites or apps (like the forms you submit, content you look at), possible interests and personal aspects.
Create profiles to personalise content 39 partners can use this purpose
Information about your activity on this service (for instance, forms you submit, non-advertising content you look at) can be stored and combined with other information about you (such as your previous activity on this service or other websites or apps) or similar users. This is then used to build or improve a profile about you (which might for example include possible interests and personal aspects). Your profile can be used (also later) to present content that appears more relevant based on your possible interests, such as by adapting the order in which content is shown to you, so that it is even easier for you to find content that matches your interests.
Use profiles to select personalised content 35 partners can use this purpose
Content presented to you on this service can be based on your content personalisation profiles, which can reflect your activity on this or other services (for instance, the forms you submit, content you look at), possible interests and personal aspects. This can for example be used to adapt the order in which content is shown to you, so that it is even easier for you to find (non-advertising) content that matches your interests.
Measure advertising performance 134 partners can use this purpose
Information regarding which advertising is presented to you and how you interact with it can be used to determine how well an advert has worked for you or other users and whether the goals of the advertising were reached. For instance, whether you saw an ad, whether you clicked on it, whether it led you to buy a product or visit a website, etc. This is very helpful to understand the relevance of advertising campaigns.
Measure content performance 61 partners can use this purpose
Information regarding which content is presented to you and how you interact with it can be used to determine whether the (non-advertising) content e.g. reached its intended audience and matched your interests. For instance, whether you read an article, watch a video, listen to a podcast or look at a product description, how long you spent on this service and the web pages you visit etc. This is very helpful to understand the relevance of (non-advertising) content that is shown to you.
Understand audiences through statistics or combinations of data from different sources 74 partners can use this purpose
Reports can be generated based on the combination of data sets (like user profiles, statistics, market research, analytics data) regarding your interactions and those of other users with advertising or (non-advertising) content to identify common characteristics (for instance, to determine which target audiences are more receptive to an ad campaign or to certain contents).
Develop and improve services 83 partners can use this purpose
Information about your activity on this service, such as your interaction with ads or content, can be very helpful to improve products and services and to build new products and services based on user interactions, the type of audience, etc. This specific purpose does not include the development or improvement of user profiles and identifiers.
Use limited data to select content 37 partners can use this purpose
Content presented to you on this service can be based on limited data, such as the website or app you are using, your non-precise location, your device type, or which content you are (or have been) interacting with (for example, to limit the number of times a video or an article is presented to you).
Use precise geolocation data 46 partners can use this special feature
With your acceptance, your precise location (within a radius of less than 500 metres) may be used in support of the purposes explained in this notice.
Actively scan device characteristics for identification 27 partners can use this special feature
With your acceptance, certain characteristics specific to your device might be requested and used to distinguish it from other devices (such as the installed fonts or plugins, the resolution of your screen) in support of the purposes explained in this notice.
Ensure security, prevent and detect fraud, and fix errors 92 partners can use this special purpose
Always Active
Your data can be used to monitor for and prevent unusual and possibly fraudulent activity (for example, regarding advertising, ad clicks by bots), and ensure systems and processes work properly and securely. It can also be used to correct any problems you, the publisher or the advertiser may encounter in the delivery of content and ads and in your interaction with them.
Deliver and present advertising and content 99 partners can use this special purpose
Always Active
Certain information (like an IP address or device capabilities) is used to ensure the technical compatibility of the content or advertising, and to facilitate the transmission of the content or ad to your device.
Match and combine data from other data sources 72 partners can use this feature
Always Active
Information about your activity on this service may be matched and combined with other information relating to you and originating from various sources (for instance your activity on a separate online service, your use of a loyalty card in-store, or your answers to a survey), in support of the purposes explained in this notice.
Link different devices 53 partners can use this feature
Always Active
In support of the purposes explained in this notice, your device might be considered as likely linked to other devices that belong to you or your household (for instance because you are logged in to the same service on both your phone and your computer, or because you may use the same Internet connection on both devices).
Identify devices based on information transmitted automatically 88 partners can use this feature
Always Active
Your device might be distinguished from other devices based on information it automatically sends when accessing the Internet (for instance, the IP address of your Internet connection or the type of browser you are using) in support of the purposes exposed in this notice.
Save and communicate privacy choices 69 partners can use this special purpose
Always Active
The choices you make regarding the purposes and entities listed in this notice are saved and made available to those entities in the form of digital signals (such as a string of characters). This is necessary in order to enable both this service and those entities to respect such choices.
have your say