THE Dublin Archdiocese successfully requested the transfer of a known paedophile priest to County Galway during the 1980s – without ever informing the local Catholic hierarchy that there were child protection concerns surrounding him.

Parishioners on Inisbofin were shocked to learn at the weekend that the clergy in the Tuam Archdiocese had no knowledge of potential allegations of abuse against Fr. Noel Reynolds prior to his appointment to the island.

The late Fr. Reynolds subsequently admitted abusing children on the island – however, there are no indications that any local children were targeted by the priest who was sent to the west from a Dublin parish.

During his life in the priesthood, he is said to have raped or abused more than 100 children and yet he was dispatched to the Tuam Archdiocese without any warning of a possible risk he might pose to teenagers.

In a statement from Archbishop Michael Neary – which was read out to parishioners on Inisbofin by Fr. Tony Lavelle over the weekend – he said that the priests in the diocese had no knowledge of a potential allegation of abuse against this priest prior to his appointment as curate on the island.

He went on to say that there were no indications whatsoever on record in diocesan files that the then Archbishop, Dr. Joseph Cunnane was aware that child protection concerns in relation to Fr. Reynolds existed prior to his ministering on Inisbofin.

Fr. Reynolds was the curate on Inisbofin from 1983 to 1986 and locals remember him as being “nothing out of the ordinary” and they never suspected him of being a child abuser.

He admitted abusing a female teenager while he was a priest in East Wall in Dublin while several complaints were made to the Gardai that he abused children during the 1970s.

According to the Murphy Report on clerical child abuse in the Dublin diocese which was published last week, Fr. Reynolds sought a transfer from the capital to an island posting in 1983 so that he could “be more in tune with the people”.

He told the Archbishop of Dublin that he wanted “to give away everything (or as much as possible) and separate myself from life in Dublin where there are far too many distractions”.

In July of that year the Archbishop told him that he had written to the Archbishop of Tuam with a view to finding an island home for him.

When Archbishop Dermot Ryan did identify Fr. Reynolds as the priest seeking the transfer, he assured Archbishop Cunnane of Tuam “that Father Noel Reynolds is a dedicated and devoted priest and will give good service to the islanders”.

No assessment was done of him prior to assigning him to Tuam.

In his interviews with the Gardai, Fr. Reynolds admitted to abusing individuals on the island but did not identify who they were.

It is thought that the victims were most likely to have been children from Dublin who came to visit the priest while he was ministering on Inisbofin.

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