Mayo allegations emerge from Scoping Inquiry report
Hundreds of schools currently or previously run by religious orders across almost every county in Ireland - including Mayo - have been named by the Scoping Inquiry into historical sexual abuse.
Its report published today features a list of primary and schools as well as special schools.
It reveals the religious orders that ran these schools alongside the number of allegations of abuse and the total number of alleged abusers at each school.
The figures have been supplied to the Scoping Inquiry by the religious orders themselves, in response to requests for a breakdown of numbers.
However not all orders supplied a school-by-school breakdown, and in some cases they did not name the affected schools.
The report outlines that there were 820 abusers, and a total of over 2,300 abuses in total, at 132 schools run by the Christian Brothers; 329 allegations at six schools run by the Spiritans and 294 allegations at three schools run by the Brother of Charity.
The Mayo schools listed are as follows.
Ballinrobe CBS (secondary), run by Christian Brothers. Three allegations. Number of alleged abusers (2).
Westport CBS (secondary), run by Christian Brothers, one allegation, number of alleged abusers (1).
Sr. Gerald's College, Castlebar (secondary), run by De La Salle Order, one allegation. Numbers of alleged abusers (1).
Boys National School, Castlebar, run by De La Salle Order. One allegation. Number of alleged abusers (1).
St. Louis Secondary School, Balla, run by Sisters of Louis up to the late 1970s. One allegation. Number of alleged abusers (1).
Sacred Heart College, Ballinafad, Belcarra, run by Society of Africian Missions. One allegation. Number of alleged abuses (1).
The report stated: “The number of alleged abusers on a school by school breakdown may be larger than the overall number of alleged abusers for any given religious order as individual alleged abusers may have been associated with more than one school, or due to possible duplication.
“It has not been possible to cross-check or verify all figures and it should be noted that the Scoping Inquiry is not making findings of fact but setting out the information provided.”
Over 800 people have been accused of more than 2,300 instances of historical sexual abuse at 308 religious schools in Ireland.
Most of these allegations have been reported from the records of some 42 religious orders who currently or previously ran schools in Ireland.
The government-appointed scoping inquiry said it had contacted 73 religious orders that ran or are still running schools in Ireland, with 42 having records of historical sexual abuse allegations.
The report added: “The figures presented giving a school by school breakdown are as we have received them.
"Any differences in the figures for allegations may be due to duplication where orders have gathered information from both their own records and those of individual schools.”
Helplines: If you have been affected by the contents of this article, the organisation One in Four provides services to adult survivors of childhood sexual abuse. One in Four can be contacted by calling 01 662 4070 or by completing the form at www.oneinfour.ie/contact