Five men who endured years of sexual and physical abuse at the hands of a Catholic priest while attending St Colman’s College in Newry, County Down, have secured more than £1.2 million in damages, following a High Court settlement announced on October 15, 2025. The men, whose identities remain protected, were pupils at the prestigious boarding school between 1972 and 1984, a period now marred by the predatory actions of the late Fr Malachy Finegan.
The settlements, reached after years of legal wrangling and emotional turmoil, represent a significant milestone in the ongoing reckoning with clerical abuse in Northern Ireland. According to BBC News, the men sued both the Diocese of Dromore and the board of governors at St Colman’s College, alleging that the institutions failed to protect them from Finegan’s "sadistic, cruel and serious" abuse. Notably, the settlements were agreed without any admission of liability by either defendant.
As part of the resolution, the survivors will receive written apologies from the head of the Catholic Church in Ireland, Archbishop Eamon Martin, on behalf of the Diocese of Dromore. Solicitor Claire McKeegan of Phoenix Law, who represented all five plaintiffs, described the abuse as "of the most sadistic, cruel and serious nature." She told the BBC, "Our clients at a time of their formative years, when they were children in a prestigious boarding school, were abused by its president Malachy Finegan. They were harmed and they have carried this burden right throughout their lives."
For decades, the shadow cast by Finegan’s actions loomed large over St Colman’s College. The priest, who also served as the school’s president, was accused of a wider campaign of child sexual abuse but was never prosecuted or even questioned by police before his death in 2002. Years later, it emerged that the Diocese of Dromore had quietly settled a previous case brought by another alleged victim, but it wasn’t until a series of lawsuits—including this latest group of five claims—were mounted that the full extent of Finegan’s abuse came to light. The Board of Governors at St Colman’s, in response, condemned the physical, sexual, and emotional abuse inflicted by Finegan, acknowledging the grave harm done to pupils under their care.
One of the survivors, speaking outside the court, recounted how Finegan preyed on him as a vulnerable boy, grooming and abusing him for his own pleasure. The man described suffering from severe anxiety, nightmares, and post-traumatic stress disorder in the years since, and questioned why nothing was done to stop the priest’s activities. The emotional toll of these crimes, as highlighted by their solicitor, has been profound and enduring. "Our clients have endured a lifetime of pain and suffering at the hands of Malachy Finegan and other staff members at St Colman's who exploited their positions of power and trust to inflict abuse of the utmost depravity," McKeegan stated, as reported by Belfast Telegraph. "We commend the bravery and resilience shown by our clients in pursuing justice."
The settlements, while significant, do not mark the end of the survivors’ quest for accountability. The men have called for a full public inquiry into clerical abuse in Northern Ireland, arguing that only a thorough investigation can uncover who knew about the abuse, when they knew, and why action was not taken to protect vulnerable children. As McKeegan emphasized, "It's important that in cases such as this where a survivor has carried this trauma throughout their lives that there is accountability. All too often these cases have been endured in silence by the survivors and it's something that they would see as justice if the people who knew what was going on, and when, were compelled to give evidence."
This case in Northern Ireland is part of a broader pattern of reckoning with historic abuse in Catholic institutions worldwide. Just across the Atlantic, a landmark trial in New Jersey has thrust similar issues into the spotlight. On October 14, 2025, the punitive damages hearing began for a civil trial involving a 1977 graduate of Delbarton School, an all-boys’ Catholic school in Morris Township. The former student, identified only as "T.M.", was awarded $5 million in compensatory damages after a jury found that he was sexually abused by former monk Rev. Richard Lott, causing him lifelong trauma. The trial is one of dozens pending against Delbarton and the Order of St. Benedict of New Jersey (OSBNJ), reflecting the scale and persistence of abuse within some Catholic institutions.
The jury in the Delbarton case determined that the OSBNJ was not negligent "through the lens of 1976," when such abuse was thought to be rare and formal policies were lacking. Nevertheless, the jury awarded $5 million in punitive damages, with Lott responsible for 35% and OSBNJ for 65%. The school’s current headmaster, Rev. Michael Tidd, warned that another large financial penalty "could put us out of business," underscoring the high stakes for institutions facing similar lawsuits.
Delbarton’s financial disclosures, as reported by NorthJersey.com, revealed that the OSBNJ’s net assets had ballooned from $7.4 million in 1976 to an estimated $164.3 million in 2025, though much of this is tied up in property. The school, which charges $48,000 in annual tuition and serves 644 boys from across New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania, now faces the reality that past failures to safeguard children can have lasting and costly consequences.
The New Jersey case was enabled by a 2019 law extending the state’s statute of limitations for child sex abuse cases, allowing victims to sue until age 55 or within seven years of realizing the harm caused. Mark Crawford, the New Jersey director for SNAP (Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests), told NorthJersey.com, "The $5 million compensatory verdict alone should send a powerful message to all institutions that they must take allegations seriously. Survivors should not be afraid to stand up and tell your truth, because justice will prevail."
Back in Northern Ireland, the five men’s victory in court is both a personal vindication and a clarion call for broader institutional reform. While the settlements and apologies cannot undo the suffering endured, they represent a measure of justice long denied. The survivors’ demand for a public inquiry signals that, for many, true closure can only come when the full truth is brought to light and those who enabled abuse are held to account. As these cases on both sides of the Atlantic make clear, the fight for justice and accountability in the wake of clerical abuse is far from over.
For the survivors, the hope is that their courage in coming forward will pave the way for others to break the silence—and that institutions responsible for protecting the vulnerable will never again turn a blind eye.