Blackrock College in Dublin, Ireland, where extensive abuse took place over decades, according to a documentary that led to the June 2025 report by the National Board for Safeguarding Children in the Catholic Church in Ireland. / Credit: Sarah777, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Jun 11, 2025 / 18:18 pm (CNA).

Allegations of sexual abuse of minors within the Catholic Church in Ireland significantly spiked this past year, a newly published report has found.

The total number of allegations rose by more than 50% from 252 in 2023-2024 to 385 in 2024-2025, according to the latest report by the National Board for Safeguarding Children in the Catholic Church in Ireland. 

The figure represents the highest number since the organization began publishing annual reports on child sexual abuse in the Irish Church in 2009. 

The majority of these allegations, 73%, date to the period between 1960 and 1989, with only two cases relating to the period after 2000. Forty-seven cases had no time frame attributed to them. 

According to the report, which covers allegations from April 1, 2024, to March 31, 2025, the increase in allegations took place predominantly in September 2024 immediately following the announcement of a government-sponsored investigation examining historical abuse in religious-run day and boarding schools in Ireland. 

“These events in September 2024 appear to have given individuals renewed strength to tell of their experiences,” National Board CEO Aidan Gordon said in a June 10 press release. 

According to the report, 291 of the allegations received by the National Board were categorized as sexual abuse as the primary complaint. The report records 55 additional allegations of physical abuse, four boundary violations, one count of neglect, one emotional abuse, one bullying, and 32 cases where the alleged abuse was not categorized.

The report indicates that 385 allegations were made against 376 people, including 318 male religious, 39 diocesan priests, 16 female religious, and three males of unknown affiliation.

Of the 39 diocesan priests accused of abuse, 20 (64%) are deceased, three are laicized, three are in prison, four are out of ministry, four are under a management plan, one remains in active ministry, and four are of unknown status.

Of the remaining accused, 221 of them are deceased, five are laicized, five are in active ministry, 31 are in prison, 21 are under a management plan, 12 have left the Church, 17 are out of ministry, and 22 are of unknown status.

The National Board received 287 requests for advice in relation to safeguarding children from abuse within the Church in 2024-2025.

Background

The announcement of the Irish government’s September 2024 investigation came after the government-backed scoping inquiry, published in March 2023.

The inquiry was initiated in the aftermath of a 2022 radio documentary called “Blackrock Boys,” which revealed extensive abuse at the Spiritan-run Blackrock College, a boys’ boarding and day school in Dublin. 

The scoping inquiry revealed that 2,395 allegations of abuse had been made in 308 schools between 1927 and 2013, including extensive accounts of sexual abuse, rape, and sexual assault.

Bishop Kevin Doran of Elphin described the scoping inquiry as “a tragedy” at the time, lamenting not only the sheer number of allegations in the report but also “that so many of them had to carry their experience alone for so many years before they felt sufficiently free to tell someone else.”