Man thought his abuser was dead until he saw 'Daffodil man' on the Late Late Show

Extra.ie​

17-05-2025

On an ordinary Friday night, Rory Patchell was sitting at home watching the Late Late Show with his wife when he was stunned to see his ­childhood abuser 'on a pedestal' on his television screen.
Until then, he had suppressed memories of the sexual abuse he had endured as a child in the 1980s, at the hands of his scout master who he thought was now dead.
In an exclusive interview with Extra.ie, Mr Patchell reveals that it was at that moment he first told his wife of his childhood torment. A file image of James Gilleran during a launch for the Irish Cancer Society's Daffodil Day campaign in 2018. Pic: Collins
'My wife never knew about it, but when he appeared on telly… it's not something I could hide. In my mind he was buried away. All of a sudden, he's on the telly.'
James Gilleran, 70, better known as 'Daff Man' – a mascot for the Irish Cancer Society (ICS) for decades – was jailed for two years this week for the historical sexual abuse of three boys.
Gilleran, of Parkview Court, Blackhorse Avenue, Cabra, ­Dublin 7, pleaded guilty to five counts of indecent assault on dates between 1983 and 1987.
As 'Daff Man', he had gained a level of fame – he was wheeled out before the media, pictured alongside taoisigh and widely praised for his fundraising work for the charity. James Gilleran on the Late Late Show. Pic: RTE
That saw him invited onto the Late Late Show in 2021 for a ­special programme celebrating the Irish Cancer Society.
That appearance prompted Mr Patchell, now 52, to contact the charity, which reported Gilleran to gardaí and Tusla, ultimately leading to his imprisonment this week. After years of hiding in plain sight, Gilleran finally faced justice for his disgusting crimes.
Mr Patchell describes seeing the abuser he believed to be long-dead glorified on one of Ireland's most popular TV programmes.
He said: 'When I saw him on the Late Late, the first thing I said was: 'I thought he was dead.' It was total shock from there on in and anger and every emotion. A file image of James Gilleran during a launch for the Irish Cancer Society's Daffodil Day campaign in 2018. Pic: Collins
'I don't remember what he said or did on the show. Seeing him was enough to realise he wasn't dead. I left Dublin a long time ago so when you see him up there, put on a pedestal, it's a shock,' Mr Patchell said.
'Not too many people get onto the Late Late unless you're being celebrated as a good person. That's what he was known as for years. He fooled everybody. Some people have a complex where they start to think 'I've overcome this', thinking they got away with it.'
He added: 'I got onto the Cancer Society on the following Monday to speak to them and they had to tell the gardaí and then the gardaí contacted me further down the line about the investigation.'
The court heard Gilleran had one previous conviction for the sexual assault of a boy in a ­cerebral palsy clinic, and was sentenced to four years in 1997, which was reduced to two years on appeal.
The Irish Cancer Society told Extra.ie it became aware of his past only last week, when it emerged in court.
After the Late Late Show appearance, Mr Patchell, along with Stephen Devlin and Greg Stafford, went on to make formal complaints to gardaí that Gilleran had sexually abused them while he was a scout leader of 117th Francis Street Scout Group during the 1980s.
The three men waived their ­anonymity so as to allow Gilleran to be named.
Mr Patchell said: 'If you looked him up online before this week you would've just seen Daffodil Man and you wouldn't have found out about the 1997 crime. Now there are names there, and people know what he did. Not only with my name and Stephen and Greg, but now other people know that it's safe to come forward.
'I don't think a two-year sentence for him is enough for what he did. It should be more like 22 years, but the important thing is that he can't hide from this now,' he added.
'He's guilty and he can't be anonymous and then all of a sudden turn up at another charitable organisation. He could have gone to prison for two years and come out and no one would have known. His name is James Gilleran and you can find him.
'If it helps other people ­contact the gardaí, then it's worth doing. We're all grown men now with families, and we've done nothing wrong.'
Sentencing him on Tuesday, Judge Orla Crowe described ­Gilleran's offending as a 'gross violation of children'.
She noted Gilleran had subjected them to 'predatory behaviour', including exposing them to alcohol and pornography. 'The impact is still felt to this day by these injured parties.'
The Irish Cancer Society said it was 'shocked to learn that someone who fundraised for the society perpetrated such crimes'.
A spokeswoman said they were contacted after the Late Late Show appearance, and had been 'made aware of allegations against Mr Gilleran'.
She said: 'We promptly reported these allegations to An Garda Síochána, Tusla and Scouting Ireland.'
Gilleran's work with the ICS 'related solely to fundraising in public places and media work', the ICS said.
'At no point would he have had unsupervised access to children or vulnerable people in such a role.'
'Fundraising and media volunteers are not Garda-vetted as their work does not meet the criteria for vetting with the National Garda Vetting Bureau. We were not aware of his previous convictions until the court reporting this week.'
In one 2016 interview, Gilleran estimated that he had collected around €45,000 for the Irish ­Cancer Society since he began volunteering 'over 20 years ago'.
Mr Patchell believes that if there had been more publicity about Gilleran's first conviction, it would have prevented him from becoming famous as a charitable character around Dublin.
'Everyone has the right to do what they see fit, but we were shocked that he had been ­convicted for this same crime previously and nobody knew ­anything about it until sentencing at the end of April,' he said.
When asked his views on Mr Gilleran representing the Irish Cancer Society in the media, ­having already been convicted of a child sex abuse crime, Mr Patchell was sympathetic to the charity's situation.
'The time when it happened was different with Garda vetting. Was there even such a thing back then?' he asked. 'You can blame so many people for so many parts of it, but he was the face of the Irish Cancer Society for so long and no one ever came out.
'He was on the back of buses all around Dublin so, knowing what is known now, there really should have been more safeguards in place back then. Not just in the Cancer Society but all charities.
'People would've known who he was from the fundraising he did. I was out of Dublin maybe 20 years, I didn't see him, so in my mind he was dead and I wasn't going to go looking for him. Then he appeared on TV.'
Mr Patchell added that during the trial he didn't interact much with the other victims, explaining: 'Everyone's story is their own, but it's not something you sit down with a group of people and you have a chat about it over a pint. I'm very proud to stand beside Stephen and Greg. I wish I didn't have to.
'There are a lot of questions you can ask – 'if this had gone differently, would this still have happened?' – but that's life,' he said.
The court heard that Gilleran had written letters of apology to the men, who said that they had no wish to read them.