Spiritans survivor: ‘Balance of power’ changed after opening up about abuse

An abuse survivor has said the “balance of power” changed after he opened up about his story of abuse at the hands of the Irish Spiritan religious order.

Corry McMahon, who was abused while attending Dublin’s Blackrock College, said the world has become a different place, since he took part in a restorative justice process.

Independent experts have been appointed to engage with victims and survivors of historical abuse at schools and institutions run by the Spiritan Congregation, formerly the Holy Ghost Fathers.

It comes as Fr Martin Kelly, provincial of the Spiritan Congregation, on Wednesday offered a public apology to all victims and survivors who were abused.

Mr McMahon became emotional at a press conference in Dublin as he recounted his story of being abused 50 years ago.

He encouraged others to come forward about historical abuse at any school across the country, not just those run by the Spiritan religious order.

“I was abused at 12 by Fr Flood and my namesake Fr Corry, so the Corry name goes around quite often. But there’s a difference between me and him,” he said.

“Picture a 12-year-old child that you know, that was the shape of us. And also our mindsets at that time,” Mr McMahon said.

“I’m 62 and a half now, I like to have the half mentioned. That was 50 years ago.”

Mr McMahon said he told friends of his abuse at a dinner party 20 years ago. “I was sitting beside a guy on my right-hand side and he said to me, what did you do about that? It kind of it stuck with me. What did you do about that?

“I was left thinking I gotta do something about this. I didn’t know how to do it.”

He added that at the time he felt there was “no room for it in the world”.

He changed his mind after he listened to survivors of abuse at other schools came forward and it “spurred” him on.

He decided to tell his story as part of the restorative justice programme and he had a meeting with the religious order in the library in Blackrock College.

He said one of the things that came out of it for him was that he had lost his faith.

“The next day, I really had a sense of the balance of power had changed. And that I had got the 12-=year-old boy back on side,” he said.

“And, you know, the world’s very different for me now, which is good. And it wasn’t bad before that, let me tell you that as well but, really for me internally, it has changed.

“And I am forever thankful to all the people that we’ve worked with.”

He called on others who had suffered abuse to come forward and take part in the restorative justice programme.

“This is about the voice of the victims,” he said.

“And it’s not just about Blackrock, it’s about the other Spiritan schools. It’s not just about the Spiritan schools. It’s about the all of the institutions. There are similar things coming out of them.

“So hopefully this will allow people to come forward which is really why we set this up, it’s to give victims a voice so that they can come forward and engage.”

Fellow Blackrock College pupil Louis Hoffman also recounted his experience.

He said the story began for him in 1974 when he was in junior school Willow Park and he was taken out of the back of the hall by Father Senan Corry for “messing”.

“He brought me upstairs into a balcony area that was lockable. I knew this man was violent, but I never knew that he was actually a sexual abuser. I was 13 years of age by the way,” Mr Hoffman said.

“He brought me into a room, which I thought was a bit odd, locked the door, sat me down, and then took my hand and put it on him.

“And I screamed, and the band was still playing in the distance and he panicked.

“He probably realised he picked a wrong-un. He would have known me quite well because I played on the rugby team and stuff.

“And he jumped up and he opened the door. This moment was kind of the beginning of the journey because when he opened the door he did it very quickly. Two of my classmates almost fell in.”

Mr Hoffman added: “That just stuck with me. And the other thing he did which at the time was the most upsetting, which is sad to say that, was he dropped me from the soccer team.”

Mr Hoffman said he moved into Blackrock College and did not have a problem after that.

“Roll forward to 1997 and my father died,” he recalled.

“It was his funeral removal in Dalkey Church… I sat in the front row and there as the priest came out to do the removal came four priests from the school, uninvited by either me or my mother… There, on the end of the line of four priests, was Fr Corry.

“My anger boiled up. I was obviously seriously emotionally upset by the death of my father who I loved deeply and I turned to my late brother and said: ‘That man tried to abuse me’.

“David said: ‘He tried to abuse me as well Louis’.”