| |
Chronology of Brendan Smyth,
O. Praem.
[This is a draft; not for distribution. An introduction with summary
of key dates and a link to the photo gallery will be added here. The chronology
below will be corrected and revised this week. Small photos and links
to other articles will be added; names and dates will be checked.]
| |
|
| 1927-06-08 |
Born John Gerard Smyth in Belfast and raised in a terrace house
off the Falls Road in West Belfast; Smyth attended the Christian Brothers
School at the bottom of the Falls Road at Barrack Street (date from
Smyth's
gravestone; details from Moore, p. 25, where the birthdate is
6/6/27; so also the Irish Times) |
| |
|
| 1940s |
|
| 1945-09-08 |
Vested in Norbertine order (date from Smyth's
gravestone)
|
| 1945-1947 |
Studies: Smyth studied at the Abbey of the Holy Trinity
and St. Norbert, usually known as Holy Trinity Abbey, in Ballyjamesduff,
Kilnacrott, County Cavan, in the Kilmore diocese ( Moore, p. 26)
|
| |
Abuse: Smyth's "problem
with children surfaced early in his religious life" according
to Abbott Kevin A. Smith, O. Praem. (see Smith's
9/26/94 letter)
|
| 1947-09-08 |
Professed in Norbertine order (date from Smyth's
gravestone) |
| |
|
| 1950s |
|
| 1947-1951 |
Studies: Smyth studied at the Gregorian University
in Rome and received his S.T.L. degree (Moore, p. 26)
|
| 1951-07-31 |
Ordained as a Norbertine priest (date from Smyth's
gravestone)
|
| 1951-1957 |
Assigned: Smyth worked at the Holy Trinity
Abbey, in Kilnacrott. where he "began organizing catechism
classes for children after Mass. He established a choir, trained altar
boys for services in the abbey chapel," and arranged "May
processions, Christmas parties and outings to the cinema." The
woman whom Moore calls Alison (see below) states that "some time
around 1957 or 1958 he disappeared off the scene and it was seven
years before I saw him again." (Moore, p. 220)
|
| |
Abuse: Smyth sexually
abused a girl at the Holy Trinity Abbey, in Kilnacrott,
beginning in 1952 when the girl was 8 years old; the abuse included
taking the girl on his lap while he had an erection, fingering the
girl's genitals under her clothes, and ordering her to strip; Moore
calls the girl "Mary"; in this
early context, Smyth was already telling his victim to "look
away" during the abuse, plying his victim with candy, and abusing
in disciplinary contexts – in this case, on the pretext that
Mary had sung poorly in choir (see also Moore, p. 94 on discipline
in Fargo ND abuse); the parents supported Smyth's work with children,
and told Mary, "Get yourself up there now to devotions this evening."
(Moore, pp. 28-30; Independent 10/16/94) Moore also presents an interview
with a woman he calls "Alison".
Smyth would put her over his knee, turn her over, pull her skirt up,
and slap her bottom, before he allowed her to borrow a book from the
Holy Trinity Abbey children's library in Kilnacrott; then it would
be her brother's turn. In 1994, she learned
that her brother, her cousin, and another
boy all "had difficulties with Father Smyth." (Moore
pp. 218-220, see transcript
of interview; Keeping the Faith, at 13:04; )
|
| 1957-1959 |
Assigned: Smyth worked for two years at Saint
Columba's parish in Annan, Scotland, in
the Diocese of Galloway; a priest at the Holy Trinity Abbey, in Kilnacrott,
Rev. Bruno Mulvihill, O.Praem., said that Smyth returned from Annan
and Wrexham (see next entry) under a cloud (Moore, p. 208)
|
| 1958 or 1959 |
Assigned: Smyth lived in the presbytery of St.
Mary's Cathedral in Wrexham, Wales, in the
Diocese of Menevia; he was gone by Christmas 1958, returning to Holy
Trinity Abbey, in Kilnacrott, under a cloud, according to Rev. Bruno
Mulvihill, O.Praem. (Moore, p. 208; Smyth
victim tells of abuse on boat, by Alison O'Connor, Irish Times,
12/9/94)
|
| |
Abuse: Smyth was "very
friendly with the altar boys" in Wrexham and would tweak their
ears, hug them, and feed them candy; Smyth took the altar
boys on bus trips to the cinema and sexually abused the boys
who sat next to him; the abuse entailed manipulating their genitals
under their clothes; Smyth took 11-year-old John
Russell, who wanted to become a priest and whose family was
"very Catholic," on a holiday to Ireland in 1958 and abused
him each night, starting on the ferry to Dun Laoghaire, and including
a terrible night at the Gresham Hotel in Dublin (Smyth
victim tells of abuse on boat, by Alison O'Connor, Irish Times,
12/9/94)
|
| |
|
| 1960s |
|
| 1960s |
Abuse: Smyth sexually
abused a West Belfast boy after befriending his parents; the abuse
began when the boy was 6 years old in about 1959, and continued into
his early teens, to about 1966; Moore (pp. 43-45 of Chapter
3) calls the boy "Anthony";
Anthony spoke of his abuse to "Seamus" and "Bernie"
in 11/88 and confronted Smyth in their home in 2/89; Smyth also sexually
abused Anthony's brother "John"
in the 1960s as well as his sister; John
came forward to a detective in 1992; Smyth took John on trips with
other children, during which Smyth would organize group sex, compelling
the children to masturbate him and each other (Moore, pp. 98-106)
|
| to 1963-08 |
Assigned: Smyth returned to Holy Trinity Abbey,
Kilnacrott, in August 1963 from an assignment in Wales,
according to Rev. Bruno Mulvilhill, who at that time was at the abbey
on retreat before starting his novitiate (Moore, p. 209 of Chapter
12)
|
| 1965-1968 |
Assigned: Smyth worked as a parish priest at Our
Lady of Mercy church in East Greenwich, Rhode Island,
in the Diocese of Providence; Smyth came back to visit the parish
every few years until the early 1990s (see Their
Best Fan Is Going Home, by Richard A. Beardsley, Providence Bulletin,
2/25/68; and Farewell,
Father, Pendulum, 2/29/68)
|
| |
Abuse: In a 1994 letter
to journalist Chris Moore, Abbot Smith stated that Smyth "offended
against young parishioners" in East Greenwich (see 9/26/94
Smith letter); Smyth sexually abused Helen
McGonigle, her sister Kathleen,
Jeff Thomas, and five
other children (see Abbot:
Priest Molested R.I. Children, by Richard C. Dujardin, Providence
Journal-Bulletin, 2/6/95; Court
Records Revealing Abuses by Ex-OLM Priest, by Abby Fox, East Greenwich
Pendulum, 10/25/07; and Lawsuit
Filed over Abuse Allegations, by Tom Mooney, Providence Journal,
6/17/08)
|
| 1968 |
Phone Call: Mulvihill states that in early 1968
he took an urgent call from Bishop Russell McVinney to Abbot Colwell;
McVinney said that Smyth "was being put on a plane back to Ireland
in disgrace after it was discovered that he had been sexually abusing
children" (Moore, p. 205 of Chapter
12)
|
| |
Treatment: Abbot Smith sent Smyth for treatment
at Purdysburn Hospital in Belfast
in 1968 after his return from East Greenwich (see the 9/26/94
Smith letter)
|
| 1968 or 1969 |
Decree: Mulvihill claimed that in late 1968 or
1969, he saw at Holy Trinity Abbey, in Kilnacrott, a decree issued
by the Congregation of Religious: Smyth's "faculties for confession
were to be rescinded for life, and ... he was not to leave the abbey
precincts on his own" (Moore, p. 210 of Chapter
12, quoting Mulvihill) |
| |
|
| 1970s |
|
| 1968-1976 |
Abuse: Smyth sexually
abused four siblings orphaned in 1968; Moore calls the children "Siobhan"
(age 6); "Danny" (age 4); "Marie"
(age 10); and "Angela" (age
9); Smyth came to Nazareth House in Belfast
on Tuesday afternoons; the nuns delivered first Danny and then Siobhan
to a visiting room, where Smyth abused them in turn; he took Siobhan
on his lap. ordered her to turn away, and using his finger penetrated
her and anally penetrated her; when she complained about the abuse,
a nun beat her head with a bunch of keys and made her kneel all night;
Smyth attempted to continue the abuse when Siobhan was transferred
at age 14 to Middletown Convent in County Armagh, but when Siobhan
complained, the nuns supervised Smyth's visits, and they ceased; Danny
was transferred to an unnamed institution at age
11, where Smyth followed him; Danny was subjected to sodomy and group
sex involving Smyth and multiple priests (Moore, pp. 120-134)
|
| 1970-1974 |
Abuse: Smyth sexually
abused a girl (called "Sally"
by Moore) from 1970 through 1974, beginning when the girl was 10 years
old, and ending when she refused to accept his visits to her school,
Cross and Passion in Belfast; the
abuse was done there, on a car trip along the Antrim coast, and in
Sally's home in West Belfast; Smyth had gone to school
with Sally's uncle, and he used candy and tickling to establish a
connection with Sally and other victims in the neighborhood; these
were consistent features of his M.O.; on the 1970 Antrim trip, Smyth
also tried to penetrate and anally penetrate Sally's 8-year-old sister,
who told her parents; Sally believes Smyth was told never to visit
their house again, but he continued to visit and molest Sally when
her parents were elsewhere (Moore, pp. 31-39)
|
| 1971 |
Abuse: Smyth sexually
abused a 13-year-old girl in a visiting room at St. Dominic's
High School on the Falls Road in Belfast,
taking the girl, called "Sarah"
by Moore, on his lap and touching her beneath her underwear; Sarah
complained to two nuns, Sr. Joan and Sr. Virgilius, the principal,
who asked Sarah to tell her parents (her father had gone to school
with Smyth); the parents agreed not to pursue the matter after the
were assured by Sr. Virgilius that the Church would not allow Smyth
back in the school, and that (paraphrase by Moore, p. 57) "the
incident would be referred to a higher Church authority" (Moore,
pp. 53-58)
|
| 1972 |
Smyth gave a retreat in Ballyhaunis in County Mayo;
"and afterwards occasionally visited the area coinciding with
retreats at Knock" [about 11 km distant], until 1993 (see Priest's
Mayo visits 'caused unease', by Kathryn Holmquist, Irish Times,
10/24/94)
|
| 1973 |
Treatment: Abbot Smith sent Smyth for treatment
at St. Patrick's Psychiatric Hospital in Dublin
(see the 9/26/94
Smith letter; for other priests treated at this hospital, see
the Murphy report, 20.151,
28.60,
28.61,
28.65,
28.67,
28.68)
|
| 1974-11-01 |
A letter from Rev. Bruno Mulvihill to Bishop Francis J. MacKiernan
of the Diocese of Kilmore, dated 11/1/74, was excerpted on UTV Counterpoint's
Suffer Little Children documentary
|
| 1974 |
Treatment: Abbot Smith sent Smyth for treatment at
Our Lady of Victory in Brownshill near Stroud
in Gloucestershire, a treatment facility run by the
Servants of the Paraclete (see the 9/26/94
Smith letter; for Stroud, see the Murphy report, 11.15
and 16.14,
which discusses a roughly contemporaneous treatment at Stroud of Rev.
Patrick Maguire, who was sent there in 1976; see also the index
of the Murphy report, for discussion of other priests treated
at Stroud)
|
| 1975-03-29 |
Fr Sean Brady and two other priests interviewed in Dundalk a 14-year-old
boy who had been sexually abused by Smyth, as part of an investigation
undertaken by Kilmore bishop McKiernan. Brady’s role at the
meeting was to take notes. The boy was compelled to sign a confidentiality
agreement. |
| 1975-04-04 |
Brady interviewed a second boy, aged 15, in the Parochial House
in Ballyjamesduff, as part of the Kilmore diocesan investigation of
Smyth. On this occasion Brady conducted the inquiry by himself and
took notes. The boy was compelled to sign a confidentiality agreement. |
| 1975-04-12 |
Bishop McKiernan of Kilmore reported the findings to Smyth’s
Religious Superior, Abbot Smith of Kilnacrott. McKiernan withdrew
Brendan Smyth’s priestly faculties and advised psychiatric intervention.
[Press release and 1994 RTE interview with McKiernan] |
| 1976 |
Rev. Wendelyn Vetter, vicar general of the Fargo diocese, "believed
Fr Smyth had seen service in the parish [St. Alphonsus in Langdon
ND] at an earlier time, possibly as early as 1976" (Moore, p.
72)
|
| 1977-1979 |
Abuse: Smyth sexually
abused Sam Adair at Rubane House in the
De La Salle Boys home at Kircubbin, Co Down, in the Diocese of Down
& Connor; Adair was also sexually abused at Rubane by other priests
(see Police
'ignored' clerical abuse claims say Nazareth resident, by Alana
Fearon, South Belfast News, February 22, 2010)
|
| -1979 |
In an inteview with Chris Moore, Rev. Wendelyn Vetter mentioned
that the Fargo diocese had in its files an employment record for
Smyth, which included information "that he had been working
in a retreat house in Dublin -
that sort of thing" (Moore, p. 89); a year is not given, but
we tentatively assume that this was Smyth's assignment prior to
his arrival in Langdon ND in 1979 |
| |
|
| 1980s |
|
| 1979-1983 |
Assignment: Smyth was assigned as a pastor and sole
priest at St. Alphonsus church in Langdon
ND in the Diocese of Fargo; Sr. Peggy Byrne, P.B.V.M., was
principal of the parish elementary school, which had 162 pupils in
1980-1981; Smyth also "attended" a mission church called
St. Edward's in Nekoma ND (Moore, pp. 66-97)
|
| |
Abuse: Smyth sexually
abused more than seven children at this assignment: 6 altar boys and
"one very serious case of sexual assault against a girl";
(Rev. Dale Kinzler quoted in Moore, p. 76); one of the boys, called
"Dave" by Moore, whose abuse began in 1979 at age 12, was
paid compensation for therapy in five installments: an initial payment
of $500 and four payments of $5K in 1992-1993; the victim subsequently
received a six-figure settlement; Smyth was removed from this assignment
after the mother of one of the other altar boys complained to the
previous pastor, Rudd, who spoke to Bishop Justoin Driscoll, who sent
Smyth back to Holy Trinity Abbey, in Kilnacrott, (first 3: Moore,
p. 73-74; payment: Moore, p. 85-86; girl: Moore, p. 76; settlements:
An
arrogant and calculating man, by Nuala Haughey, Irish Times, July
26, 1997)
|
| 1983-1985 |
Abuse: Smyth sexually
abused the daughter of Bernie and Seamus, whom Moore calls "Susan",
in her home, on trips, and at St. Dominic's school, despite a commitment
made by the school in 1971 to refuse him entry, after he abused Sarah
there; Smyth also abused Susan's three siblings;
Susan's meeting on 2/23/90 with a social worker at the Catholic Family
Welfare Society in Belfast started all the Smyth revelations (Moore,
pp. 44-52; Abuse
victim plans legal action against church, by Alison O'Connor,
Irish Times, 10/19/94)
|
| 1984-08 |
Notice: Mulvihill stated that he had discussed
sexual abuse by Smyth with Abbot General Van de Ven and Abbot Benjamin
Mackin, while traveling to an abbatial blessing in California (Moore,
p. 216; see an excerpt
of the 11/9/85 letter from Mulvihill to Abbot Smith describing
the meeting; for Mackin's career, see the Norbertine
Necrologium entry); Mackin said he would look into the matter
and take it up with Smith
|
| 1985 |
Notice: Mulvihill "discussed the matter at
length" with Abbot Hermenegild Noyens of Tongerloo Abbey, who
said he would monitor the situation but could not interfere (Moore,
p. 216; see an excerpt
of the 11/9/85 letter from Mulvihill to Abbot Smith)
|
| 1985 |
Notice: Mulvihill and a German colleague, during
a visit to Holy Trinity Abbey in Kilnacrott, received the punishment
of a Solemn Warning issued by the Abbot's Council, after young members
of the Norbertine order at the abbey discussed with Mulvihill "the
stories of Fr Smyth's sexual misconduct with children" (paraphrase
in Moore, p. 215 of Chapter
12)
|
| 1985-11-09 |
Notice: Mulvihill wrote to Abbot Smith that Smyth
was "misusing" children; he states that he had also told
Abbot General Van de Ven, Abbot Benjamin Mackin, and Abbot Noyens.
(see Moore, pp. 216-218; see also an excerpt
of the Mulvihill letter)
|
| 1986-09-14 |
Notice: Mulvihill again discussed the Kilnacrott
situation with Abbot General Van de Ven at Tongerloo abbey, where
they were attending the ordination of Benno Haeseldonckx (Keeping
the Faith, Chris Moore, UTV Counterpoint, at 45:11)
|
| 1988-11 |
Anthony revealed his abuse by Smyth to Bernie and Seamus at their
home in West Belfast (Moore, pp. 43-44 of Chapter 3)
|
| 1989-02 |
Anthony confronted Smyth at Bernie and Seamus's home (Moore, p.
44 of Chapter
3)
|
| 1989 |
Bernie and Seamus meet with Abbot Smith at an Armagh hotel and discuss
Smyth's abuse of their four children (see 9/26/94
Smith letter; Moore, pp. 111-112, 144)
|
| 1989 or 1990 |
Smyth vacationed in Langdon ND (Moore, p. 71)
|
| 1989-1992 |
Treatment: Abbot Smith sent Smyth to Dr Del Monte
in St James Hospital, Dublin for treatment every other week, according
to Abbot Smith (see the 9/26/94
Smith letter to Moore; and the 2/4/91
Smith letter to Bernie and Seamus) |
| |
|
| 1990s |
|
| 1990-02-23 |
Susan revealed to a social worker at the Catholic Family Welfare
Society in Belfast that Smyth had sexually abused her (Moore, p. 49);
her statement triggered the RUC investigation; the social worker also
contacted the priest director of the Catholic Family Welfare Society,
who contacted Cardinal Daly's priest secretary, who contacted Daly,
who approved the RUC's investigation (Moore, p. 149)
|
| 1990-03-02 |
Bernie and Seamus, Susan's parents, met with a female sergeant of
the RUC's Child Care Unit (Moore, p. 49 of Chapter
3)
|
| 1990-03-07 |
The RUC's Child Care Unit interviewed the children of Bernie and
Seamus for the first time (Moore, pp. 50-52 of Chapter
3)
|
| 1990-03-12 |
Cardinal Daly and Abbot Smith met about Smyth (Moore, p. 150; Daly
statement, para. 6)
|
| 1990-08 and 1990-09 |
Assignment: Smyth worked as a locum chaplain at Tralee
General Hospital in Kerry, in the Diocese
of Kerry, in southwest Ireland. nearly as far away from Belfast as
it is possible to be (Parents
asked to check on children's contacts with sex abuse priest, by
Dick Hogan and John Maher, Irish Times, 10/13/94)
|
| 1991-02-04 |
Abbot Smith responds to a letter from Bernie and Seamus expressing
concern that Smyth was still to be seen in his old Belfast haunts
(see the Smith
letter)
|
| 1991-02-11 |
Cardinal Daly, in a response to Bernie and Seamus, writes "there
have been complaints about this priest before and once I had to speak
to the Superior about him. It would seem, that there has been no improvement.
I shall speak with the Superior again." (see the Daly
letter)
|
| 1991-03-08 |
Smyth was interviewed at the Grosvenor Road police station
in Belfast, charged, and released on £100 bail.
(Moore, pp. 18, 145)
|
| 1991-04-03 |
Smyth was scheduled to appear on 4/3/91 for a preliminary enquiry,
at which he would be formally charged, but his attorney requested
a postponement
|
| 1991-08-16 |
Smyth's enquiry was rescheduled to 8/16/91, but the RUC was not
able to contact him, and he did not appear
|
| 1991-08-03 and 1991-08-04 |
Smyth was given faculties by the Archdiocese of Boston and preached
for the missions at St. Camillus church in Arlington
MA; Rev. Paul Rouse was the pastor (see Becker 1
2
and the Boston
archdiocesan statement; it appears that Rev. Richard G. Lennon,
now bishop of Cleveland, would have been involved in these arrangements
or apprised of them (see sample
Lennon documents)
|
| 1991-11 |
Smyth worked as locum chaplain at Tralee General
in Kerry for six days in November
|
| 1991-12 |
Smyth worked as locum chaplain at Tralee General
in Kerry for five days in December
|
| 1992-08 |
Smyth worked as locum chaplain at Tralee General
in Kerry for four days in August
|
| 1992-09 |
Smyth worked as locum chaplain at Tralee General
in Kerry for three days in September
|
| 1993-02-17 to 1993-02-20 |
Smyth worked as locum chaplain at Tralee General
in Kerry for four days in February
|
| 1993-04-23 |
Warrants for Smyth's extradition from the Republic of Ireland submitted
to a Belfast magistrate (Moore, p. 160)
|
| 1993-04-30 |
Warrants for Smyth's extradition, together with a covering minute
and supporting documentation, were received by Matthew Russell in
Attorney General Harry Whelehan's office from the gardai in Dublin,
who had received them the previous day from the RUC
|
| 1993-07 |
Smyth was in the vicinity of Ballyhaunis and Knock
in County Mayo in connection with a retreat (see Priest's
Mayo visits 'caused unease', by Kathryn Holmquist, Irish Times,
10/24/94)
|
| 1993-09 |
Smyth worked as locum chaplain at Tralee General
in Kerry for one day in September
|
| 1993-09-20 to 1993-12-19 |
Assignment: Smyth was assigned for three months as
locum chaplain at Mercy Hospital in Cork,
in the Diocese of Cork and Ross (Moore, p. 194)
|
| 1993-12 |
Susan attempts suicide; Smith has Fr Marshall contact Bernie and
Seamus about a quiet resolution
|
| 1994-01-21 |
Smyth turns himself in to the RUC, and is broadcast on television
doing so. As a result, Smyth survivors talk with UTV's Chris Moore,
who was filming Suffer Little Children.
|
| 1994-02-22 |
Sally speaks with Chris Moore (p. 33)
|
| 1994-03-05 |
Statement by Rev. Wendelyn Vetter is read by Rev. Dale Kenzler at
St. Alphonsus in Langdon ND (see the text
of the Vetter statement)
|
| 1994-05-20 |
Moore wrote letter to Abbot Smith, describing his findings and questions,
and asking Smith for an interview (see the text of Moore's
5/20/94 letter to Smith)
|
| 1994-06-10 |
Smyth hears the clerk at Crumlin Road courthouse read 17 charges
that Smyth of sexually abused 5 girls and 3 boys in Northern Ireland
between March 1964 and December 1, 1988; Smyth pleads guilty to each
charge (see Moore, p. 181)
|
| 1994-06-24 |
Smyth is sentenced by Crown Court judge Sir Robert Porter to four
years in prison for indecent assault involving the sexual abuse of
five girls, two of them sisters, and three boys, two of them brothers,
between March 1964 and December 1, 1988 (see Priest
sentenced to jail for four years for abusing children, Irish Times,
6/25/94)
|
| 1994-09-26 |
Abbot Smith writes to journalist Chris Moore (see the 9/26/94
Smith letter)
|
| 1994-10-06 |
UTV airs a Counterpoint program entitled Suffer Little Children,
in which Chris Moore interviewed survivors of abuse by Smith, as well
as Rev. Bruno Mulvihill, O.Praem. (see Church
admits errors on sex abusers, by Gryer Moriarty, Irish Times,
October 6, 1994)
|
| 1994-11-17 |
Resignation of Taoiseach Reynolds and Harry Whelehan, President of
the High Court (see Reynolds
resigns with a 'sense of achievement', by Dermot Kelly, Michael
O'Regan, and Marie O'Halloran, Irish Times, November 18, 1994; and
Whelehan's
Statement of Resignation)
|
| 1994-12-06 |
Statement by Cardinal Cahal B. Daly, Primate of All Ireland (see
the Daly
statement)
|
| 1995-03-22 |
Mulvihill meets with Rev. Gerard Cusack; he films the meeting and
some of the rooms and grounds at Holy Trinity Abbey, in Kilnacrott
|
| 1995-08-08 |
In a commital hearing at Belfast Magistrates Court, Smyth was sent
for trial on 16 charges of indecent assault involving 5 girls and
3 boys over a 15-year period ending in 1989 (see Priest
facing 16 sex abuse charges, Irish Times, August 9, 1995)
|
| 1995-09-22 |
Smyth pleads guilty to an additional 26 charges of sexually abusing
an additional 9 girls and 4 boys in Northern Ireland, and is jailed
for an additional three years, to run concurrently with his previous
sentence (see Smyth
faces 30 new charges of child sex abuse, by Dick Grogan, Irish
Times, 9/22/95; Smyth's
path through the courts, Irish Times, 9/23/95; Smyth
to face 30 additional charges in Republic, Irish Times, 9/23/95)
These charges were the result of an RUC investigation after Smyth's
6/24/94 plea and sentencing, in which RUC detectives "went through
the rolls of every Catholic children's home and orphanage in Northern
Ireland known to have been visited by him" (see Church
must face the unpalatable truth as list of offences grows, by
Andy Pollak, Irish Times, September 30, 1995)
|
| 1995-12-24 |
UTV airs a Counterpoint program called Keeping the Faith, a sequel
to the 1994 Suffer Little Children
|
| 1996-04-18 |
Abbot General Marcel van de Ven resigned; he was succeeded by Mgr.
Hermenegild Noyens of the Abbey of Tongerlo.
|
| 1997-03-21 |
Smyth is moved from Magilligan Prison to Limavady for an extradition
hearing before a special sitting of the local magistrates, flown to
Eglinton Airport, and transferred to Bridewell Garda station (see
Paedophile
priest to face Dublin court, Irish Times, March 21, 1997)
|
| 1997-03-26 |
Smyth pleads guilty in Dublin District Court to 74 charges of indecent
and sexual assault of 7 boys and 13 girls in the Republic of Ireland;
"He pleaded guilty to 62 offences of indecent assault on males
and females in a hotel, a cinema, a boat house, an abbey, a convent,
and in other venues in several counties within the State on dates
from January 1st, 1958, to December 31st, 1991. He also pleaded guilty
to 12 charges of sexual assaults on males and females on dates from
January 1st, 1991, to December 31st, 1993. The offences took place
in nine counties spread over the four provinces. Females were the
victims in 61 of the charges and males in the remaining 13."
(see Smyth
admits 74 sex offences, Irish Times, March 27, 1997; for more
detailed description of the charges, see Smyth
has served two terms in North for similar sexual offences, Irish
Times, July 22, 1997; and Paedophile
priest affirms guilty pleas to 74 charges, Irish Times, April
23, 1997)
|
| 1997-04-22 |
Smyth affirms guilty pleas at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court before
Judge Cyril Kelly to 74 charges of indecent and sexual assaults on
20 victims over a 35-year period to 1993 (see Paedophile
priest affirms guilty pleas to 74 charges, Irish Times, April
23, 1997)
|
| 1997-07-21 and 1997-07-22 |
Smyth survivors spoke at a sentencing hearing in Dublin Circuit
Criminal Court before Judge Cyril Kelly, and Smyth's counsel, Ms.
Gemma Loughran, read an apology written by him; among the survivors
in the sample cases was Bernice Donoghue (See Smyth
has shown no remorse, court told, Irish Times, 7/22/97; Abusing
priest offers apology and faces sentencing, Irish Times, July
23, 1997; Smyth
has served two terms in North for similar sexual offences, Irish
Times, July 22, 1997; and Six
Reasons Why I Want to Be Excommunicated, Bernice Donoghue, Irish
Times, 2/23/10)
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| 1997-07-25 |
Smyth was sentenced to 12 years in prison
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| 1997-08-22 |
Smyth died in the Carragh prison exercise yard in County Kildare
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