Siblings to speak publicly about abuse suffered at Blackrock College

It comes ahead of a new documentary due to air this evening on RTÉ Radio One, during which two brothers will speak about the abuse they suffered at Blackrock College (pictured) during the 1970s and early 1980s. File Photo: RollingNews.ie

More than 230 people have made allegations of abuse against an Irish religious congregation connected to some of the country’s most prestigious boarding schools.

The Spiritans, also known as the Holy Ghost Order, today confirmed that its records indicate 233 people have made allegations of abuse against 77 Irish Spiritans in ministries throughout Ireland and overseas.

It comes ahead of a new documentary due to air this evening on RTÉ Radio One, during which two brothers will speak about the abuse they suffered at Blackrock College during the 1970s and early 1980s.

Both Blackrock College in South County Dublin and Rockwell College in Tipperary are under the trusteeship of the Spiritan Education Trust. Other schools under its trusteeship include Templeogue College, St Michael’s College and Holy Family Community School.

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The Spiritans confirmed to RTÉ that 57 people have alleged they were abused on the Blackrock campus, with the order reaching settlements with 12 individuals relating to abuse at the school. The order also confirmed it has paid out more than €5m in abuse settlement claims and support services since 2004.

All settlements have been funded from Spiritan congregation resources, it said, and it has been the practice of the congregation to cover the legal fees incurred by its members in relation to criminal cases.

At 6pm this evening, RTÉ Documentary on One and RTÉ Radio 1 will broadcast the accounts of the two brothers, who will be named publicly in the documentary. From the ages of 12 to 17, the siblings were repeatedly sexually abused both in and on the grounds of Blackrock College.

For many years neither brother spoke of their abuse, until early 2002 when clerical child sex abuse filled the news headlines. They will be the first people to openly speak about abuse at Blackrock College.