Devil in a habit haunts church

Cardinal Brady has been derided for his role in allowing Smyth to prey, but the role of the abbot at Kilnacrott is near perverse, writes Claire O’Sullivan

IF THERE is ever an image that encapsulates the fear and brutality of clerical sex abuse — it’s the iconic one of the leering Brendan Smyth, the notorious paedophile priest who, 15 years after he died in prison, is still threatening to topple the head of the Catholic Church in Ireland.

Born in Belfast, Smyth went into the seminary at the age of 18. Part of the Norbertine Order, he never held a formal ministry but did locum work and spent time as chaplain in hospitals including the then Tralee General and Mercy Hospitals in Co Kerry and Cork City. A feature of his ministry was his work with children which manifested in his training of choirs, girl scouts, altar boys and his interest in religious instruction. But behind this avuncular, paternalistic facade lay a serial abuser. For five decades, he brutally raped and assaulted hundreds of children using his priest’s collar to gain access into families’ lives.