HAUNTED BY THE DEATH OF AN ORPHAN

O'Brien remains unconvinced by the priests' story

A 62 year-old crippled man has relived the night he watched an 11 year-old orphan die because priests looking after him refused to call a doctor when he got sick. Mr. John O'Brien, a former detainee at St. Joseph's Industrial School, Ferryhouse in Clonmel, told how he pleaded with priests to get a doctor to save Francie Hogan, an orphan detained in Ferryhouse.O'Brien has made a comprehensive statement to Gardaí investigating alleged child sexual abuse and physical abuse at Ferryhouse. "Francie Hogan's death has been on my mind for 52 years. I will do anything to bring the truth out" Said Mr. O'Brien.  On the day Francie died, he was left in charge of the school's infirmary. "The sick boys would come into the infirmary, they would have chilblains and boils, but when I came to the end of the queue, I saw Francie Hogan. He was as strong as a bull, a nice little lad who had never been sick in his life. He never had any ailments but here he was holding his little stomach and whining. I asked him what was wrong but he just couldn't speak." recalled O'Brien.

Priests were fishing.

Desperately concerned he went looking for a priest to request that a doctor be called. He found the priests fishing off the banks of the River Suir. "They made me stand there for an hour. I wasn't allowed to interrupt their fishing, Eventually one of the priests asked me what I wanted. I told them that Francie Hogan was very sick.   The priest just said to me "Send him to bed" and later that night I heard that Francie was seriously and when I went looking for him I found his bed empty" Mr. O'Brien recalled Francie Hogan died during the night and Mr. O'Brien saw Francie's body the following morning. "...he was laid out on the table. His face was swollen, his lips were blue. I went numb." The Rosminian brother said Francie had poisoned himself to death by eating berries. "Nothing was ever said. They buried him days later. Everything went on as normal, there was no funeral service for Francie, no prayers ... and so it was all over." Mr. O'Brien, who now lives in Manchester, has demanded that the gardai investigate the case. He said he has unearthed new evidence for the gardai to examine. "Francie's death certificate is completely bogus. No medical person signed it. In fact, his death certificate was signed 10 months after he was buried. The man who signed it wasn't even there when Francie died," he claimed. The death certificate shows the signature of a Mr. C.Cottrell, a rector at Ferryhouse who had no medical qualifications. Another name appears to have been crossed out. Although the child died on September 27, 1949, the death certificate was not registered until July 14, 1950, attributing his death to acute gastritis and heart failure.

 "How could his death certificate show he died of heart failure when no doctor was there?" asked Mr. O'Brien.

SOURCE: Kathy Ferguson