Irish viewers 'appalled' by 'eye-opening' Bishop Eamonn Casey documentary about crimes of the Catholic Church

Viewers were “appalled” by an “eye-opening” Irish documentary detailing the church's handling of horrific sexual abuse allegations against former Co Galway Bishop Eamonn Casey.

Bishop Casey's Buried Secrets aired on Monday night, delving into the shocking and tragic allegations of child sexual abuse against Bishop Casey, who died in 2017 aged 89.

The eye-opening documentary detailed four separate complaints of childhood sexual abuse against Bishop Casey and one further ‘child safeguarding concern’. The programme also featured an interview with one of Bishop Casey’s accusers, his niece, Patricia Donovan.

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Speaking for the first time on camera, she claimed that he first raped her at the age of five and that the sexual abuse continued for years. “Some of the things he did to me, and where he did them,” Patricia said in the documentary.

“The horror of being raped by him when I was five, the violence. And it just carried on in that vein... He had no fear of being caught. He thought he could do what he liked when he liked, how he liked.”

“He was almost, like, incensed that I would dare fight against him, that I would dare try and hurt him, I would dare try and stop him... It didn’t make any difference.”

A shocked viewer wrote: “Appalled at the cover-up by the church at Bishop Casey and so many more accused of child abuse.” A second viewer penned: “Bishop Eamonn Casey. A charlatan! He brings disgrace on many good members of religious orders.”

While a third viewer wrote: “Bishop Casey what an eye-opener”. While one more praised: “Patricia is incredible”. Another added: “I'm simply amazed that the Catholic Church didn't make Jimmy Saville a Bishop. Bishop Casey was a scumbag!”

One more wrote: “Even though I have a strong belief in God, I do believe that the Catholic church in Ireland should be trialed in The Hague for covering up the likes of Bishop Eamon Casey and others.”

Another viewer asked: “What an awful creature he was. The culture of cover-up, gaslighting victims, burying lies. What other lies are buried?”

A viewer praised the “bravery” shown by Patricia Donovan. They wrote: “Watching this makes me so angry our State and Catholic Church have so much to answer for the appalling treatment of its people - the bravery shown by his niece is truly incredible”.

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