Paedophile priest's order quitting Co Cavan abbey

The Irish News
April 7, 2015

http://www.irishnews.com/news/paedophile-priest-s-order-quitting-co-cavan-abbey-1424905

 THE religious order of serial paedophile Fr Brendan Smyth is quitting its Co Cavan abbey.

The Norbertine Fathers are departing Kilnacrott Abbey near Ballyjamesduff.

The five remaining priests held their last Mass at the abbey on Easter Sunday.

First put on the market in 2007, with an asking price of €3m, it was initially thought the abbey and its

44 acres would be transformed into a 60-bed residential nursing home after being reportedly sold for €900,000 in 2011.

However, that sale fell through and the property eventually sold in 2012 for €610,000 to a controversial lay religious group known as Direction For Our Times, which is run by Chicago native Kathryn Ann Clarke, otherwise known as 'Anne a lay apostle'.

The Norbertines are hoping to raise a further €100,000 when the contents of the abbey go under the hammer in early June.

Its bookshop will remain open until the end of the month.

The order, which sold its farm and livestock in the mid-1990s, has confirmed that some of the profits from the sale will be used to help those abused by Fr Smyth.

Belfast-born Smyth, who joined the Norbertines in 1945, sexually abused children in Northern Ireland, the Republic, Wales, Italy and the US.

During the 1990s, he spent three years on the run from the RUC, staying mainly at Kilnacrott. The scandal led to the downfall of the Fianna Fáil/Labour coalition in 1994.

Smyth died in prison in 1997 after being convicted of dozens of charges of child abuse on both sides of the border. His remains were secretly buried at Kilnacrott.

Former abbot Fr Kevin Smith publicly apologised to Smyth's victims in 2012 after coming under fire for failing to warn parishes about the abuser.

Cardinal Sean Brady, who swore two young victims to secrecy during an internal church inquiry in 1975, has also faced criticism over his actions.