Brothers' abuse of sisters was hidden in Dublin family for years
Richard was aged 19 and studying for the priesthood when he began sexually abusing Catherine in their
Rathfarnham
home in Dublin on her ninth birthday. He put her sitting on her bed, instructed her to remove her underwear and sexually abused her.
She vomited and cried in the bathroom later as she tried to scrub herself clean and was 'very confused' because her brother, who came home at weekends from
Clonliffe College
, was 'supposed to be a man of God'.
After Catherine disclosed the abuse at the age of 13, it was dismissed by her father as 'just sexual curiosity' while her mother said she was 'lying' and being 'dramatic'. It continued until she was 14.
READ MORE
Richard Brennan arriving at the Central Criminal Court. Photograph: Collins
Catherine was unaware until years later that Richard also abused her older sisters Paula and Yvonne, or that an older brother, Bernard, abused her two sisters.
Now aged 67, Bernard Brennan was jailed last month for four-and-a-half years after admitting 11 indecent assault offences against Yvonne Crist and Paula Fay between 1972 and 1975.
His sentence hearing was told that when aged 14, Bernard called then seven-year-old Paula into the house, forced her to take off her clothes in front of some local boys and touched her inappropriately. His abuse escalated to include oral rape.
Yvonne was 13 and Bernard 15 when he started abusing her. He would wake her in the night, sexually assault her and make her watch pornography. Bernard subjected both girls to abuse in front of, and with, Richard, the court was told.
Bernard's counsel said he grew up in a violent home, his only sexual education was from pornography, which he re-enacted, he had no previous convictions, and offered an unreserved apology to his sisters.
[
Boy (13) uploaded sexual abuse photographs of sister (6) to Discord social media channel
Opens in new window
]
During his separate sentencing hearing for offences against Ms Crist, Ms Fay and Catherine Wrightstone, Richard claimed that from the age of three he was naturalised into sexually deviant behaviour by Bernard and was sexually abused by a friend of his father's.
The family home was not a happy one. The children's mother had a history of mental illness and their father, a self-employed businessman, was an alcoholic who was sometimes violent to their mother and the children.
The family was musical – especially the girls, who found some solace in their singing voices. 'My ability to sing became my refuge, my escape, my lifeline,' Ms Fay said. 'Music was something no one could take from me, and it carried me through the darkness.'
Ms Wrightstone was first to break the silence about the abuse. In 1984, aged 13 and encouraged by her best friend Michelle Gubbins, she disclosed she was being sexually abused by Richard to a specialist educator linked to her school. 'Michelle said to me, if you tell a grown up, they will take care of it and it will stop.'
Her disclosure was reported to the head nun, who called in her parents to inform them.
'Nothing happened,' Ms Wrightstone said. Her parents took no action, their physical beatings of the children worsened and the sexual abuse by Richard continued.
[
Richard Brennan jailed for eight years for sexually abusing three of his sisters
Opens in new window
]
Later that year, she was admitted to Dublin's Meath Hospital with lower limb paralysis. Unable to identify the source of her condition, the hospital made a referral to St John of God's for family therapy. Ms Wrightstone said redacted, sometimes illegible, records of those meetings included references to her father defending Richard's actions as 'just sexual curiosity'.
Her parents decided after five or six sessions not to continue with the family therapy. Ms Wrightstone had therapy for several more months but was 'very guarded'.
She was not believed, and her sisters were then too frightened to disclose the abuse of them.
A 'long and arduous' journey: From left, Paula Fay, Yvonne Crist and Catherine Wrightstone
Back home, Ms Wrightstone said her mother was hostile when she tried to raise Richard's abuse, telling her to 'shut up' and 'move on'. When aged 15 or 16, her mother's response when told his abuse was escalating was to tell her she was 'lying' and being 'dramatic'.
'She said to move on and 'get a grip', that I would experience far worse things in life.'
In 2019, all three sisters made formal complaints to gardaí, leading to an investigation and the prosecution of both brothers, who returned from the US to Ireland for their trials.
[
Officials resist schools abuse redress scheme
Opens in new window
]
Richard maintained his not guilty pleas until after his three sisters gave evidence, and two had been cross-examined in his trial last March. He ultimately pleaded guilty to counts of indecent assault and rape of Ms Fay and Ms Wrightstone.
He admitted one offence of indecent assault against Ms Crist relating to an incident when she was aged 20. Then singing professionally, she had toured in the United States and was staying in the family home while singing in Jury's hotel as a soloist.
She woke during the night to find Richard naked in the bed on top of her and screamed at him to leave. Having initially refused, he left after she grabbed the phone, threatening to make an emergency call.
Having been ordained a Catholic priest in 1989, Richard went to Montana in the US but left the priesthood in 1992 after meeting his wife Bridget, an emergency physician. They married in 1993 and he worked in sales and later as a chaplain in the hospital where his wife worked.
Bridget Brennan, three of their adult children and two friends travelled to Ireland for the case. Ms Brennan asked the judge to receive 20 letters of support, plus testimonials from their children, on behalf of her husband, 'one of the kindest, most compassionate and trustworthy people I have ever met'. She never had concerns about leaving their children with him, she said.
A theme in the sisters' victim impact statements was their sense of strength and empowerment now their abuser had 'finally been brought to justice'. They are survivors, the women stressed, and expressed deep gratitude for all who supported them, including their husbands and children.
Ms Wrightstone, a licensed psychotherapist, stressed she was not seeking 'vengeance' but wanted recognition of the harm and lasting impact of the crimes on her life, 'and the immense courage it took to come forward as a child, a teenager and then as an adult'.
She wanted, 'most important of all', her voice to matter 'because, for too long, it did not'.
Catherine Wrightstone. Photograph: Tom Honan/The Irish Times
While recognising the court has limited power to address the 'widespread systemic issue of sexual violence against young girls and women', it has power 'to show that the gross injustice of these types of acts will not be tolerated', she said. 'Thankfully, the Ireland of the 1980s is not the same as the Ireland of 2025.'
The damage done by childhood sexual abuse and rape is 'a lifelong sentence of emotional pain, broken trust, and an ongoing struggle to reclaim safety and self-worth'.
In her statement, Ms Fay said she was a child with 'no voice, no power, and no sense of worth', whose world was 'shaped by overwhelming fear'.
This justice is not just for me, but for all those who have endured such pain and fought to be heard. Today I truly am a survivor
—
Paula Fay
She was 17 when she finally broke free from this 'relentless' sexual abuse, having endured at least 10 years of it, beginning at just six or seven years old at the hands of Bernard and carried on through the rest of her childhood by Richard.
The 'psychological torment' did not end with the abuse – it affected her mental, emotional and physical health. However, she was 'immensely proud' of the woman she has become, 'of her strength, resilience, and unwavering spirit'.
The sisters' journey had been 'long and arduous'. The Director of Public Prosecutions' decision to press charges 'felt like an eternity', with legal obstacles between the women 'and the chance to finally speak our truth'.
Ms Fay hoped her brother's sentence reflected the severity of his crimes 'and brings accountability long overdue'. 'This justice is not just for me, but for all those who have endured such pain and fought to be heard. Today I truly am a survivor.'
In her statement via video link from the US, Ms Crist, a widowed mother of two, said she has recurring nightmares of the night Richard, aged 18, tried to sexually assault her, aged 20, as she slept. She was 'terrified' of his strength and regretted not calling gardaí then 'as you wouldn't have been able to continue your sexual behaviours towards my sisters'.
He made her feel she was 'a filthy piece of dirt' who 'did not deserve to live'.
[
Sisters lost half their family after reporting sexual abuse by older cousin, court hears
Opens in new window
]
She had overcome anorexia that developed in her teens but developed a mental illness at the age of 28, leading to extensive treatment over years. Her serious bouts of mental illness 'prove that incest lasts a lifetime'.
Music was 'my saving grace' and her singing career helped take her away 'from my troubled self'.
'Now I can function very well, I survived and I am a survivor,' she said. Her message was: 'Never doubt and survive because you are so worth it. Life does get better.'
On Monday, Richard Brennan was jailed for a total of eight years after admitting to indecently assault of three of his sisters and raping two of them when they were minors.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Irish Times
4 hours ago
- Irish Times
Hundreds gather in Tallaght for antiracism protest after assault on Indian man
Hundreds of people attended a public antiracism gathering in Tallaght called to protest an assault on an Indian national in the area last weekend. The crowd, which included many members of Dublin 's Indian community, heard the man, the father of an infant child who had just arrived in Ireland to take up a tech role with Amazon, was on the way to a religious service when he was set upon, beaten, stabbed, stripped and robbed by a group of youths. Jennifer Murray, a local woman who had intervened to help the victim told the crowd 'the attackers and people on social media rapidly spread a lie that this man had committed a crime of a sexual nature at the local playground. [ Man violently assaulted and partially stripped by gang in Tallaght Opens in new window ] 'No such thing [happened]. This is a complete fabrication to justify the beating, stabbing and stripping of an innocent man. The only crime here committed was by our own, by a gang of Irish teenagers. READ MORE 'But this is not who the people of Kilnamanagh are. This is not who the people of Tallaght are. So it is time for change. There's been a lot of negative people shouting very loudly lately, and it is time to turn our silence into action.' Jennifer Murray, who came to the aid of the Indian man attacked in Tallaght, meets other attendees at the protest. Photograph: Dan Dennison The innocent man who had been attacked, she said, 'has shown such dignity, such bravery and such humility in the aftermath of this awful ordeal, his wishes are just that this never happens to anyone ever again. But I say this never should have happened to him'. The crowd, which included TDs Louise O'Reilly of Sinn Féin and Ruth Coppinger of Solidarity-People Before Profit, as well as former TD Bríd Smith and a number of other local representatives, also heard from Shashank Chakerwarti, an activist and candidate in last year's local elections who was born in India but moved to Ireland with his family at the age of 12. 'Like many others,' he said, 'I don't claim to be Irish by birth but by belonging.' The Indian community and other migrants were not, he said, 'guests but fellow citizens' determined to contribute to 'making Ireland a fairer society'. A mother and daughter attend the protest in Tallaght Sarah Holland of Dublin South West Together said decent people had been appalled by what had happened last weekend and said those who claimed to be patriots in the spirit of those who led the Rising were misguided. 'The 1916 leaders wanted a Republic that cherished all its citizens because we are all equal,' she said. The crowd was addressed by a number of speakers, including politicians and community figures. Photograph: Dan Dennison The meeting, which took place outside the Rua Red arts centre close to the Square shopping centre, was flanked by a significant Garda presence amid rumours beforehand that a counter protest by members of the far right might spark violence. In the event, around a dozen people protested close by with a handful holding up placards bearing photographs of Ashling Murphy and the man who murdered her, Jozef Puska. The event ended without any disorder.
Irish Times
5 hours ago
- Irish Times
Woman tortured over false drug accusation will never forgive ‘sick' men who attacked her
A woman who was tortured and falsely imprisoned in a Dublin flat over a false accusation about missing drugs has told a court she will never forgive the 'sick human beings' for what they did to her. During a three-hour period in September last year, in which she was put through 'unimaginable trauma', the woman was beaten around the head and body with metal poles. She was burned with a makeshift blow torch and a heated hammer head, cut with a knife, kicked and punched, had her hair cut off and was threatened with rape, Dublin Circuit Criminal Court heard. The men took running jumps at her during the assault in a one-bedroom flat at Henrietta House, Dublin 7 , threatened to make her drink ammonia and also threatened to rape her teenage daughter. She was terrified throughout and thought she was going to die, Caroline Cummings BL, prosecuting, told the sentence hearing on Friday. READ MORE The assault ended only when gardaí entered the flat with a search warrant, the court heard. All of the men, who have between one and 124 previous convictions, were on bail at the time of the offence. In text messages read out in court, one of the men boasted to a friend during the incident that they had a 'hostage' and had 'cut her up', to which this unidentified man replied: 'quality'. Phone video footage taken inside the flat that day was also played in court, which showed the woman bloodied and distressed and a hammer being heated up on a hob. The woman was left with a broken eye socket, broken cheekbone, broken nasal bone, broken elbow, burns, dislocated teeth, bruising and lacerations across her head and scalp, among other injuries. She required skin grafts, staples to her scalp, and later had surgery to remove a disc in her back, the court heard. She spent three weeks in hospital in the immediate aftermath of the assault. Five of the eight men present that day entered guilty pleas, while another man and a juvenile are still before the courts. The eighth person is not before the courts. Mark Keogh (33), Mark McMahon (55) and Braxton Rice (21), all of Henrietta House, Henrietta Place, Dublin 7, along with Sean Conroy (21) of Sillogue Road, Ballymun and Kian Walshe (22) of Constitution Hill, Dublin 7, all pleaded guilty to false imprisonment and assault causing harm to the woman at Henrietta House on September 26th, 2024. [ Man jailed for role in murder of David Douglas in Dublin shoe shop appeals conviction Opens in new window ] A number of other counts against each man relating to the production of articles in the course of an offence were taken into consideration. In her victim impact statement, which was read out by the investigating officer, the 38-year-old woman said she was 'petrified' in the flat. 'If police didn't come in through that door that day, I was sure I was dead,' she said, describing the men as 'animals'. 'I was beaten, stabbed and burnt – tortured to confess to something I knew nothing about,' she said. 'The smell of my skin burning, I will never get that smell out of my mind again,' she said, adding that she was 'completely helpless' and outnumbered by the eight men. 'I never knew humanity could be so cruel,' she said. Det Garda Peter Guyett told the court that at the time of the incident, the woman and her then partner were staying with one of the men whose case is still before the court. While there, the woman became aware this man was holding drugs in his house. [ Kinahan crime boss ordered to pay back £1 million or face more jail time Opens in new window ] On the day in question, this man and another person approached the woman in the house and told her: 'Come on, we've to go,' before she was put into an Audi containing two other men and driven to Henrietta House. There were eight men in the flat, and a 'baby-faced' man – who later emerged to be Rice – started interrogating her about a €90,000 batch of cocaine that had gone missing from the home she was staying in. An older man, later identified as McMahon, whose flat it was, held a hatchet up to her face while his son Keogh, referred to in court as 'Sparky', hit her across the head with a pole. Conroy kicked her face. 'Every person there hit her,' Ms Cummings said. 'Not one of them didn't get involved.' They cut her hair, which the woman later described as 'the ultimate humiliation'. The man whose house she was staying in was told by the others to get involved, and he cut her legs with some sort of blade. They used an aerosol can and a lighter as a makeshift blowtorch to burn her. The woman thought the incident lasted for an hour-and-a-half, but CCTV footage showed she was in the flat for three hours before gardaí entered, the court heard. The woman was present in court for the sentence hearing; in the afternoon, Ms Cummings informed Judge Pauline Codd that it was suspected that someone in court had been recording her. A device had been seized, the court heard. Judge Codd thanked the woman for attending court. 'She has been through unimaginable trauma,' she said. The court heard McMahon has 27 previous convictions, including drug dealing and possession, burglary, robbery and malicious damage. Keogh has 124 previous convictions, including drug dealing and possession, possession of knives, assault causing harm and escaping custody. Conroy has 89 previous convictions, including drug dealing and possession, burglary and possession of knives. Rice has 12 previous convictions, including drug dealing and possession. Walshe has one previous conviction. The maximum sentences for false imprisonment and assault causing harm are life and 10 years respectively. Judge Codd adjourned the case to next Wednesday, when defence counsel will give their pleas of mitigation.
Irish Times
7 hours ago
- Irish Times
Dublin city's first static speed camera introduced in Dolphin's Barn
Dublin city's first static speed camera will commence operation in Dolphin's Barn from next Friday, said Gardaí. Vehicles detected driving in excess of the posted speed limit will be subject to prosecution from midday on August 1st. 'Prosecution of speeding offences takes place by Fixed Charge Notice (FCN),' Gardaí said. The current FCN is a €160 fine accompanied by three penalty points. Dolphin's Barn was identified as part of a wider national analysis as a road which could benefit from the implementation of a safety camera. READ MORE 'The location was selected based on fatal and serious injury collision data from the last seven years and speed data, as well as feedback from stakeholders,' Gardaí said. The family of Brazilian carer Josilaine Ribeiro, who was killed at Dolphin's Barn bridge in November 2023 while cycling to visit a patient, had previously called for road safety improvements in Dublin. [ Garda revokes more than 900 speed camera fines on stretch of N25 due to 'human error' Opens in new window ] Speed surveys on Lower Crumlin Road and at the Bridge over the Grand Canal at Dolphin's Barn undertaken as part of the UCD WeCount Traffic Impact data project in the six months before Ms Ribeiro's death had found more than 100 cars an hour were breaking the speed limits. Dublin City Council (DCC) said it was 'pleased to see the introduction by An Garda Síochána of the first ever static speed camera within the Council area'. 'The Council worked closely with An Garda Síochána to facilitate the installation and initial operation of the camera. DCC said it will continue to work with An Garda Síochána 'on road safety and measures which can help to improve road safety for all'.
