Disgraced former bishop Brendan Comiskey dies aged 89 – ‘He operated within a system that directed the cover-up'

Irish Independent

28-04-2025

The Monaghan native retreated from public life following the publication of the damning Ferns Report which outlined a catalogue of child sex abuse in the diocese over a period of forty years.
It emerged that Bishop Comiskey had failed to protect children from paedophile priests and failed to report allegations that Fr Sean Fortune had abused a number of children.
The report found Comiskey's investigation into the rape of children by his clergy was "an inappropriate and inadequate response". It concluded that he had "failed to recognise the paramount need to protect children, as a matter of urgency, from potential abusers".
Comiskey became Bishop of Ferns back in 1984, aged just 49. He would serve in the role for 18 years, through what is widely regarded as one of the darkest periods of the Catholic Church.
He resigned following the airing of a ground-breaking BBC documentary Suing the Pope, which uncovered over 100 allegations of abuse against 21 priests stretching back as far as 1962.
Speaking to the Irish Independent in 2014 about the clerical abuse scandal, he said: 'I did my best and it wasn't good enough and that's it.'
In recent years, Bishop Comiskey had been under the care of the Sisters of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary in Ranelagh in Dublin.
For clerical sex abuse survivor Colm O'Gorman, the news of Bishop Comiskey's passing stopped him in his tracks.
"I had to think, 'how do I feel about it?'' he said. 'First of all, I'd say that the death of anybody is a sad moment. I genuinely mean it when I offer my heartfelt condolences to his family, friends and those who loved him.
"Brendan Comiskey has been a private individual for a very long time. In terms of his legacy, I think it's clearly laid out in the Ferns Report for anyone who wants to read it,' said Mr O'Gorman, who founded the One in Four charity which offers support to women and men who have experienced sexual violence.
"He was, however, one Bishop. It was really clear in the years following the report that Ferns was sadly not unique at all.'
Outlining his feelings towards Bishop Comiskey, Mr O'Gorman said: 'I think people see the individual, the Bishop who behaved badly and orchestrated this cover-up. But the reality of the situation is that Brendan Comiskey and every other Bishop who covered up child sexual abuse and moved priests did so at the direction of the Vatican.
"While he was responsible for his own actions on a personal level on one hand, he complied with the directives from the Vatican in relation to child sexual abuse.
"I don't think Brendan Comiskey should be scapegoated or held up as the villain. He wasn't unique. He wasn't any worse than anyone else who operated within that system that directed the cover-up.
"I was sad to hear that he had died and I would offer my sincere condolences again to his family.'
In his early career, Dr Comiskey was catapulted into senior leadership roles at a young age. He was seen as a leading light of the Irish church, young, handsome, articulate and outspoken. However, his inability to tackle clerical abuse and control notorious abusers such as Fr Fortune was to prove his downfall.
But even before his spectacular resignation, the young bishop was caught up in controversy when Cardinal Cahal Daly was forced to deny that Bishop Comiskey had been held by police in Bangkok Airport after being found drunk and without his passport.
He went to the US for treatment for alcoholism and came back in early 1996 to face down allegations asserting he 'did not consort with prostitutes' while on holiday in Thailand.
Born on 13 August 1935 in Clontibret, Co Monaghan, he was ordained a priest for the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary on 25 June 1961.
He became head of his order in Ireland and the UK when he was just 34. He was appointed Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of Dublin in 1979 when he was 45 and shortly afterwards he was appointed to the Diocese of Ferns.
He resigned in 2002 after the broadcast of the BBC documentary.
In his statement announcing his resignation, Dr Comiskey admitted he found Fortune difficult to deal with. The notorious abuser later committed suicide while on bail in March 1999.
Bishop Éamonn Walsh was installed as Apostolic Administrator in Ferns in 2002 in the wake of Bishop Comiskey's resignation and he implemented a new child protection policy which resulted in many more historic allegations of child sexual abuse being reported.
An inquiry into clerical sexual abuse in Ferns was set up following the resignation of Bishop Comiskey. The October 2005 Ferns Report identified over 100 allegations of child sexual abuse between 1962 and 2002 against 21 priests including Fr Seán Fortune and Fr Jim Grennan.
It strongly criticised the former bishops of Ferns, Donal Herlihy and Brendan Comiskey for their inability to deal with the allegations of sexual abuse made against a number of priests.
In his resignation statement in 2002, Bishop Comiskey said: 'The sexual abuse of children is deeply abhorrent to me. I apologise also to the families of victims and to all others who have been offended or hurt in different ways by the late Father Sean Fortune.
'In endeavouring to deal with the complexity and conflict which always surrounded Fr Fortune, and already existed prior to my appointment as Bishop of Ferns in May 1984, I can only assure you that I did my best. Clearly this was not good enough. I found Father Fortune virtually impossible to deal with.
'I confronted him regularly; for a time I removed him from ministry; I sought professional advice in several quarters; I listened to the criticisms and the praise; I tried compassion and I tried firmness; treatment was sought and arranged - and yet I never managed to achieve any level of satisfactory outcome.
'Father Fortune committed very grave wrongs and hurt many people. Despite the difficulties he presented in management terms, I should have adopted a more informed and more concerted approach to any dealings with him and for this I ask forgiveness.'