Exhumation examination shows boy had skull damage

By CHRIS DOOLEY The Irish Times - Thursday, April 19, 2001
An examination of the remains of a 13-year-old boy exhumed yesterday in Kilkenny found that his skull had been damaged. The remains of Willie Delaney were disinterred at St Kieran's Cemetery as part of a long-running Garda investigation into allegations of sexual and physical abuse of children at a reform school in Letterfrack, Co Galway. The remains were taken to St Luke's Hospital for examination by the Deputy State Pathologist, Dr Marie Cassidy. Gardai say it will be a few days before tests are concluded, but Dr Cassidy was satisfied that she would be able to establish the cause of death. "It was a very successful day," said Insp Paschal Connolly, who supervised the exhumation. The remains showed evidence of bone damage, but whether this was caused by a physical injury or a medical condition would not be known until Dr Cassidy's tests were complete. The boy died in 1970 during a summer visit home from the reform school. He arrived home complaining of headaches. Following an examination by a doctor, he collapsed and was hospitalised, but he never regained consciousness.

Residents of the reform school at the time have told gardai that he was severely beaten before he left Letterfrack. The exhumation began at 6 a.m. when gardai arrived in semi-darkness to erect a tent around the boy's grave to shield the work from public view. Supt Tony Dowd, who heads the Letterfrack investigation, was among those present. A small headstone records that Willie Delaney, from Whitebridge, Kilkenny, was buried on July 18th, 1970, with his uncle, Edward, and his grandmother, Kate Delaney. An aunt, Brigid, was subsequently interred in the grave in 1984, and her body also had to be exhumed yesterday. A wooden rosary beads had been placed around the headstone and the grave had several fresh wreaths. Tests on the body were completed at 1.30 p.m. and the reburial service took place 90 minutes later.

One of Willie Delaney's seven surviving brothers and sisters, Kathleen Harty, said it had been a tough day for the family. "If he died of natural causes, then our minds will be at rest," she said. "If it was due to injuries, then we would like to see justice done." Ms Harty, who was four when Willie Delaney died and "vaguely" remembers him, described as "really lovely" the afternoon ceremony during which her brother and aunt were reinterred. She said gardai had contacted her mother, Nellie, about the Letterfrack investigation. Her father, also named Willie, who died in 1993, had always had doubts about the cause of his son's death, she said. A member of the settled Travelling community, Willie Delaney was sent to Letterfrack by order of a court when he was 10.

Allegations of abuse at Letterfrack came to light in 1996. A Garda investigation has intensified in the past 18 months and to date 19 files have been sent to the Director of Public Prosecutions.