A LIFELONG predatory paedophile was left free to prey on children in Africa for decades as his superiors in Ireland covered up his crimes back home, an Irish Mail on Sunday investigation reveals.
Brother Aidan Clohessy, 85, was described by a judge this week as ‘an ogre’ who ‘secretly carried out atrocities’ in Ireland while being sentenced to more than five years in prison.
In mitigation, lawyers for the former school principal told Dublin Central Criminal Court that Clohessy led a mission in Malawi to develop ‘mental health services’.
However, the MOS can reveal that, in the lead-up to his prosecution, Clohessy’s superiors in the St John of God order spent more than €3million on settling civil cases.
These cases involve ex-pupils of Clohessy in Dublin and former street children in Malawi in southeastern Africa.
Up to 20 cases from Malawi have been settled and a similar amount are pending. All settlements were made without any admission of liability.
Some of those who received civil compensation from the St John of God order still had to go through the trauma of testifying in court because Clohessy pleaded not guilty.
Clohessy, who was the principal of St Augustine’s in Blackrock, Co. Dublin, from the early 1970s until 1993, was jailed for a total of five years and four months this week after he convicted of sexually abusing six Irish boys at the special needs school between 1969 and 1989.
Before Clohessy’s trials in Dublin, the MoS travelled to Malawi to speak with victims there, who detailed horrific abuse they suffered at the hands of the now-convicted paedophile.
‘Sometimes he raped us, sometimes he played with our private parts, sometimes he beat us,’ Stephen Chiumia said.
‘Most of the things he was doing, he was doing when we went to the bathroom. He would take us to the bathroom, one after the other.’
Mr Chiumia was one of many street children Clohessy brought to live in his home in Malawi.
At the time, Clohessy’s superiors in Ireland were reassuring the authorities here that he had no access to children.
Another alleged victim who lived with Clohessy in Malawi, Makaiko Banda Chimaliro, told the MoS: ‘What makes me angry is the fact that someone in Ireland knew that he was a risk to us and they still decided to send him to Malawi to do the same work where he was exposed to more kids.
‘Sometimes I even feel like I would have been better off as a street kid compared to the way I was abused.’
Clohessy remained in Malawi from 1993 until 2012 when he was withdrawn overnight amid a Vatican investigation, called a Canonical inquiry.
The Vatican and Clohessy’s order have refused to comment about this inquiry.
No one at St John of God’s services in Malawi was told why Clohessy was suddenly recalled without notice.
‘There wasn’t even a single rumour,’ St John of God’s then clinical director, Harrison Chilale, told the MoS in 2017.
No effort was made to trace those put at risk in Malawi – until the MoS tracked them down.
The cover-up of Clohessy’s past by his order was so successful he was able to lie to international funders, telling them he had never been accused of abuse, securing more than €1m in funding for St John of God’s children’s projects in Malawi run by Clohessy.
In 2010, Clohessy’s work with children in Malawi was the subject of a documentary called The Warm Heart of Africa (Croi Te Na hAfraice) which aired on TG4.
‘There was a time when everywhere you went you were meeting children who were begging.
You could see that they were suffering,’ Clohessy told the programme.
‘We decided that St John of God should take leadership. People literally went out onto the streets to identify the children and then they’d invite them to come back to hear their story.’
Even as this programme aired on TV, St John of God was still receiving new abuse complaints about Clohessy from his former Irish pupils at St Augustine’s, but these were kept under wraps, and he was left unsupervised to continue living and working with children in Malawi.
Clohessy sought to use his time in Malawi to seek a lower sentence in mitigation.
Outlining his role in establishing a mission in Malawi, his barrister Ronan Kennedy told the court his client ‘devoted a lot of his life to serving others’.
‘He is a person who has, despite his failings, made some contribution to society,’ Mr Kennedy said.
He added that Clohessy lived a ‘humble and quiet existence’ and still ‘lives in service of others’ by tending to the 11 elderly members of the St John of God order resident in Stillorgan.
Mr Kennedy also sought leniency on the basis that his client had been ‘subject to significant adverse publicity in the national media’.
‘In many respects he was already condemned and judged in the court of public opinion before he was ever tried in this court,’ he said.
Mr Kennedy also pointed to the fact that his client ‘didn’t stand in the way’ of the civil cases being ‘dealt with’.
Clohessy, with an address at the Hospitaller Order of St John of God, Granada, Stillorgan, Co. Dublin, was convicted of 19 counts of indecent assault following two back-to-back trials held behind closed doors last month.
Photo by Seán Dwyer 20/05/25.
At his sentencing hearings this week, Clohessy’s barrister told the court his client would not be appealing the verdicts.
Mr Kennedy said this would ‘bring some closure’ to the victims.
But Clohessy has never apologised or expressed any remorse for his actions.
The historical case against the former school principal – one of the oldest to ever be prosecuted in Ireland – followed a near-decadelong campaign by this newspaper.
Our investigation, the first part of which was published in 2018, tracked down new victims in Ireland and spoke with street children in Africa who told us that the brother frequently watched them bathe in a purpose-built shower block.
This coverage prompted more victims to come forward and ultimately led to the successful Garda investigation and State prosecution that concluded this week.
But the jailing of Clohessy is only part of a much wider, international cover-up that can now be told in full for the first time.
During Clohessy’s trials, jury members remained ignorant of the cover-up of the risk he posed for decades in Africa by his superiors.
Their actions in keeping a lid on the danger Clohessy posed to children enabled him to remain living with minors in Malawi.
The court was also unaware that, in the lead-up to his trial, St John of God spent millions settling dozens of civil cases against Clohessy and the order.
The cases being taken by Dublin law firm Coleman Legal are unprecedented in that no African abuse victim had ever before sought recompense for abuse in an Irish court.
These civil cases are also being taken against the leader of St John of God in Ireland, Br Donatus Forkan, who dispatched Clohessy to Africa after he abused children here.
He frequently visited Clohessy in Malawi, where he was known widely simply as BrAidan, as secret settlements were paid out to victims here.
Unusually, Clohessy – whose top criminal defence team was privately funded – took the stand himself. Clohessy denied each charge, often with two-word answers, delivered with a shrug.
‘That’s incorrect,’ he said repeatedly. ‘Didn’t happen.’
At times he chuckled as if he found some questions ridiculous, and he was frequently heard humming to himself in court.
This confident performance was in marked contrast to the testimony of victims. Describing the abuse they suffered, they broke down emotionally, cowering from the nearby presence of their tormentor.
One of them, Kildare man Joe Devine, suffered a panic attack and collapsed to the floor under cross-examination by Clohessy’s defence, requiring an ambulance.
The episode delayed proceedings for several days and could have jeopardised the entire trial if the key witness had not been able to resume his evidence.
When the MoS first confronted Clohessy in January 2018 he denied any wrongdoing, although he acknowledged his order had made settlements to his former pupils.
‘I don’t think anybody is guilty until they’re proved guilty,’ he said at the time. ‘Innocent until proven guilty.’
Now, after decades of silence, those abused by Clohessy can finally speak freely. They include Wayne Farrell, a former pupil of St Augustine’s school in Dublin where Clohessy was principal until he was sent to Malawi in 1993.
‘Life will never be the same. The memories are always there, and the damage can never be repaired,’ he told the MoS.
Mr Farrell said he was appalled to learn Clohessy had been sent to Malawi after abusing him here.
‘I was in shock when I heard about Africa. He’s a predator. He picked on weak people. Frail people,’ he added.
The St John of God order refused to respond to detailed queries about the number of alleged abuse cases involving Clohessy or how much it has paid out in settlements to victims.
‘There is no comment,’ a spokesman said.
Contact the author on michaelofarrell@protonmail.com
‘I feel like I was robbed of my future. It hurts me so much…’
EDWARD PHIRI is 37, He is a father of four young children aged between four and eight.
He lives in a one-room, mud brick home in Mzuzu, Malawi, and supports his family by selling potions in the local market that his wife makes from herbs.
As a child, although Edward had parents, he often slept rough at the bus depot in the centre of Mzuzu.
In 1999, at age 11, Brother Aidan invited Edward home to wash his clothes and bathe.
Then the abuse started.
‘He used to wash my penis. Of course I was young. I didn’t know what was happening but most of the time when I took my bath he would come and take my penis – – touch my penis. Now, as I am mature, I can say he was doing it like masturbation. But I was young, and didn’t understand.’
Edward was also physically punished, accused by Brother Aidan of stealing wine. The abuse and punishment led him to consider suicide.
‘During my time, I used to even think to hang myself,’ he told the MoS.
‘I went home and I take strings. I even put strings up in the house to kill myself, but some neighbour passing by took me from those strings.’
Today, despite Edward’s experiences with St John of God, he is dedicated to religion, working with a local pastor.
‘Brother Aidan, yeah, he was a man of God but you know sometimes the devil uses such people,’ he said.
Edward told us he is happy to speak out as he hopes that this will encourage others to come forward. In 2022, Edward sued Brother Aidan and the head of the St John of God order. The order ultimately settled for a lifechanging but confidential sum, without admitting liability.
Looking to the future, Edward is planning to buy a farm and a house for his family.
‘I think there is hope that somehow, something might change in my life,’ he said.
MAKAIKO BANDA CHIMALIRO is a 42-year-old gardener and father of five children aged between eight and 22.
Makaiko and his wife and family live in a shed-like home made from mud bricks on the outskirts of Mzuzu.
He met Brother Aidan on the streets of Mzuzu in January 1995, when he was 12.
‘He was in the company of some black men,’ Makaiko told the MoS. ‘They approached us, and they said to us that the man worked for St John of God and he wanted to help us – – to remove us from the streets because the streets are dangerous and we could easily be killed.
‘We were happy that this white man was going to take care of us.’
Makaiko recalled being bathed by Brother Aidan.
He also spoke of beatings: ‘If we didn’t go to school he would ask you to take off all your clothes and then lie down. Then he would whip you naked.’
Describing other abuse, he added: ‘There were two bathrooms in Brother Aidan’s yard – – outside and in the house. When he tells you to go and bathe in the bathroom in the house, he would come there and then start having you to help him masturbate.’
Makaiko remembers there were ‘about 15’ other boys living at Brother Aidan’s compound.
He said the boys slept inside Brother Aidan’s house but knew not to go inside when there were visitors or until the cook left each evening.
‘The cook would leave and then we were able to go into the house at around 7.30 but whenever the cook was in the house, we would never enter the house,’ he recalled.
Makaiko said that he is angry at those who sent Brother Aidan to Malawi.
‘What makes me angry is the fact that someone in Ireland knew that he was a risk to us, and they still decided to send him to Malawi to do the same work where he was exposed to more kids. That makes me disappointed and angry at the authorities for doing that.’
In 2023, Makaiko sued Brother Aidan and the head of the St John of God order.
The order settled for a lifechanging but confidential sum, without admitting liability.
But Makaiko said: ‘No matter how much compensation we get, it’s not enough because the pain and the hurt goes deep. It’s beyond compensation. There is no amount of money that can make up for the shame and the pain that we’ve gone through.’
JOHN PHIRI is 36 years old and has never had a home or a steady job.
He met Brother Aidan when he was just eight, living at the bus depot in Mzuzu, where street children slept.
He then went to live with Brother Aidan, where at first things were good.
‘After four years, he began to treat us badly,’ John told the Irish Mail on Sunday.
‘He used to abuse us in different ways. He used to touch our buttocks.
‘One day he gave me a soft drink and in two minutes I fell down. I was knocked out. I didn’t know what happened for some time.
‘But when I got up I realised my buttocks were hurting.
‘I didn’t know what was causing the pain until I went to the toilet. Then I realised something was wrong. The pain lasted for a whole four days.’
John went to hospital, where he was told: ‘You’ve been raped.’
‘I couldn’t do anything because I was so young and I did not know what to do,’ he recalled.
‘It hurts me so much. How could a man have sex with me? I feel like I was robbed of my future. It hurts me. Sometimes I even want to kill myself.’
John said he wants those who put him at risk to face justice.
‘The fact they knew he was a threat to kids here in Africa shows they are very bad people. What I want to say is I wish they would get arrested. I would be very happy to see that.’
Last year, John sued Brother Aidan and the head of the St John of God order, Donatus Forkan.
The order settled for a lifechanging but confidential sum, without admitting liability.
‘I will try to start a business, to multiply that money and make life better,’ John said.
STEPHEN CHIUMIA is a 33-year-old carpenter from Mzuzu. He was orphaned as a child and grew up in the streets of the city, moving around daily to find shelter and food.
In 1999, when he was aged 11, he met Brother Aidan.
‘Brother Aidan said he could help us,’ Stephen told the MoS when we met him in Mzuzu.
‘He picked us up and took us to St John of God.’
Stephen then lived in Brother Aidan’s walled compound, on the outskirts of Mzuzu, for five years, until he was 16.
Being bathed by Brother Aidan was a routine that took place two or three times a week.
‘Sometimes he raped us, sometimes he played with our private parts, sometimes he beat us,’ he recalled.
‘Most of the things he was doing, he was doing when we went to the bathroom. He would take us to the bathroom, one after the other.’
Stephen, right, and other boys living in Brother Aidan’s house felt imprisoned with no escape.
‘We could not get out because there was a guard. The guard did not let us get out. His orders were not to let us get out.’
Stephen said he is still affected by the abuse he suffered.
‘It hurts me that he did this to me. I can tell you if I met him today, things would not end well.’
In 2024, Stephen sued Brother Aidan and the head of the St John of God order. The order settled for a life-changing but confidential sum, without admitting liability.
But no one apologised, something Stephen mentioned that he would like. Instead, he said, ‘They just gave me money’.
