December 4th 2015

Where to next? I read and re-read the famous ‘file’ to try and establish if anything contained therein might give me some leverage on the entire business. One thing was certain and proven by comparing different sections of the file. The Diocesan Secretary in 2005 had changed his version of events and the file proved it. From an initial position of “wanted nothing done about it at that stage” to desiring anonymity was a very major effort to deceive.  Only one thing to do. I made arrangements before Christmas after doing as much research as I could to meet with Lucy Boyle from Tormeys, the best legal firm I have ever come across.

I forwarded the ‘file’ of which 80% was redacted to her office and made an appointment. Lucy was as professional as ever. She had a serious grasp of the entire matter and had done exhaustive research on similar cases. She was however dubious about the prospects of succeeding with this case since it would be difficult in the extreme to explain the time lapse since the abuse and bringing the matter to court.

She referred me to a number of the most recent cases and while acknowledging the genuine nature of the case which could almost be deemed to be proven she considered that to succeed in the case would be difficult. She estimated that to bring this case would cost a minimum of €50,000 with questionable prospects.

In the meantime I had been doing a little research on the possibility of acquiring the services of the Legal Aid Board. I was aware that this facility existed but had never heard of the service being used to prosecute a case. In every newspaper on a daily basis one reads of defendants in all sorts of actions and prosecutions being granted ‘Free Legal Aid’ but never could I recall a plaintiff being granted this taxpayer funded facility. More homework.

One of the first pre-requisites for qualification was to prove that you have attempted to bring forward the case on a ‘pro-bono’ basis. In other words I needed written confirmation that I had discussed the case with at least one firm of solicitors and they had refused to bring the case on a no-foal no-fee basis.

Considering the reluctance of Tormey’s to take the case on my behalf I requested that this position might be confirmed to me in written format by this company. Back to Lucy. I had no difficulty in securing this documentation and filed for Legal Aid. Granted. Now we were getting places!

The Legal Aid Board in Athlone referred my case to The Personal Injuries Unit at The Law Centre at Smithfield and was dealt with by Solicitor Catherine Martin. She needed two pieces of documentation from me. Firstly she required a description of events from the time of the abuse and I sent her the following correspondence;

Law Centre (Smithfield)
48-49 North Brunswick Street
Georges Lane
Dublin 7.
Case Ref: 1880902/OM

Dear Ms Martin,

I refer to your correspondence of 08 April 2015 and thank you for your expedient response to the matter at hand.

My brief history of what occurred is as follows, is totally factual and not exaggerated to any degree. Looking back it became very obvious that the modus operandi employed by the priest in his quest to abuse young boys was repetitive and predictable but how were we to know this at that time. Fr. Hynds initial contact was always the same. He would intercept a young boy or sometimes two and swish his great cloak around them squeezing the boys head or face area into his body at about the level of his genital area.

This would happen to many boys at national school from 5^th class onwards. Gradually he would choose his eventual victims for further interference and the majority of these boys would be from a working class background or be of a timid disposition. Practically all of these boys were recruited into service as altar boys.

It was usually between the 6^th class in Primary School and first year in Secondary that the closer attention began. Again, one very strong arm would be wrapped around a boy rendering him almost defenceless while the priest explored the flies or belt area of the boy’s pants. He would subsequently find some excuse to meet the boy in private and his advances would progress until he was feeling the victim’s privates.

While this was the method of his ‘progress’ in almost all cases and indeed in my own there are varying reports as to the eventual treatment of individuals.

In my own case this was as far as he went because I always resisted him physically despite being no match for his considerable strength.

This behaviour continued on a semi frequent basis in the sacristy, his car, his house, his boat or anywhere he could be seen to be entitled to be.

I tried to keep out of his way as much as possible but being a mass server and attending both primary and afterwards the Mercy Secondary schools, both of which were immediately adjacent to the parochial house, this proved almost impossible.

The abuse reached its height in a most hideous fashion in the year in which I did my Inter Cert. Of course I had a very poor Inter Cert exam because of the sheer stress of the climate in which I lived.

During the summer holidays I contracted a very serious kidney infection. The resulting septicaemia was so serious that my eyes completely closed and my fingers were so swollen that they touched one another. My doctor (Dr. Coyne), accompanied by the aforementioned priest arrived one particular day to inform my mother and I that I was going to die and was so ill that it was a waste of time even sending me to hospital. Immediately after the delivery of this news the visits of the priest became far more frequent and happened on an almost daily basis.

On every occasion he would push his hand down my pyjamas while I tried to hold him off. It was as if the belief that I was going to die shortly meant he would never be challenged about his behaviour. As it happened an old lady living a mere hundred yards from my parents’ house had a cure for the ailment which she made from the roots of a certain plant in a local bog and after a month or more on this medicine I gradually got better.

In the meantime the priest continued his antics. When I fully recovered many weeks later I was expected to return to Secondary school again but I refused and never went back to that school. The following year after a few months in the Vocational school I got a job in Eircom and away from Ballymahon. The priest never bothered me afterwards.

A few short years later after promotion in the Post Office, as it was then, I was promoted to the position of Technician Class One which made me a rural lineman, which basically meant I visited people’s homes and fixed their phones. One of the areas to which I was assigned was Cloghan in County Offaly.

As fate would have it the new Parish Priest there was the same man that had abused me in Ballymahon and a number of people in that village told me of the reputation he had as an abuser of young boys.

Catherine, it is strange the details that stick in your mind and to which you give regular recall not voluntarily it must be said. One recurring memory I have is this; Fr. Hynds kept a bulldog as a pet. This bulldog was continuously slobbering as he walked around the priest’s yard. When Fr. Hynds got most excited in the middle of his antics he would salivate in the same manner as the dog. Weird it may be but there it is. There are a lot more details I could give you but you have the jist of it.

I note that in item 3 of your Letter of Engagement there is the issue of expectations. I am now in my 65^th year and my expiry date is gaining momentum.

I feel in conscience that I must address this issue now as I can’t see any of the multiple other victims so doing. What I am seeking is justice for myself and all the other innocent boys who were violated by this man of the cloth.

I have no expectations in the issue of monetary compensation and would be content to hear a public admission by the Church and an apology to those who suffered from a public clerical forum.

Yours sincerely,

P.J.Walsh.

P.S.

Since I drafted this letter I met in person and spoke with for the first time four other victims of this priest. One gentleman, now aged 67, regularly cries himself to sleep at night when he recalls the abuse he received.

Another gentleman cannot speak of the priest without uttering a tirade of foul language at the mention of the priest’s name.

A third gentleman suffers from depression and only speaks of the priest when he is very drunk.

The last gentleman in his late 50’s confirmed that he in one of seven brothers, all of whom were abused by this priest at a national school a few miles removed from Ballymahon. To this day no two of the brothers have been able to discuss the issue even though each one knows about the others.

Following this description of the generality of what had happened all those years ago I then had to submit a reason for the delay in acting.