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Seán Fortune

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Seán Fortune
Born(1953-12-20)20 December 1953
Gorey, County Wexford, Ireland
Died13 March 1999(1999-03-13) (aged 45)
New Ross, County Wexford, Ireland
Cause of deathSuicide by lethal cocktail of drugs and alcohol
Criminal chargeRape, sexual assault
PenaltyNone. Committed suicide while awaiting trial
Personal details
NationalityIrish
DenominationCatholic Church
OccupationPriest

Seán Fortune (20 December 1953 – 13 March 1999) was a Catholic priest from Ireland, who allegedly used his position to sexually abuse children.[1] Fortune was accused of the rape and sexual molestation of 29 different boys. He committed suicide while awaiting trial.[2]

Life

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Born on 20 December 1953 in Gorey, County Wexford,[3] Seán Fortune was the eldest son of Elizabeth (née Acton) and James Fortune.Article text.[4] He was educated at St Peter's College, Wexford, which was the diocesan seminary of the diocese of Ferns. It was during his training that the first reports of his abuse were made, although it is not clear whether the Diocesan authorities had knowledge of these complaints before his ordination.[5]

Fortune ministered in the village of Fethard-on-Sea in County Wexford, in Belfast and in Dundalk. Allegations of abuse were made against him in all three places. Fortune would take groups of boys to stay over in Loftus Hall in the early 1980s when it was a convent, and allegedly carried out some of his attacks there.[6] Sean Cloney compiled a dossier of complaints against him. He also set up a business in Dublin which offered media and journalism training to the public.[1]

While Fortune was arrested, in March 1995, and charged with 22 offences,[7] he sought to have the charges dropped on the basis of the length of time which had elapsed.[8] However, criminal proceedings commenced in early March 1999.[1]

Death and subsequent findings

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On 13 March 1999, Fortune committed suicide in New Ross on the "eve of his trial".[1][9] He had been facing 66 charges of sexual abuse against 29 boys and, while he was remanded in custody pending trial, he had been released on bail several days earlier.[10] While at his home, he took a lethal cocktail of drugs and alcohol[2] and was found dead in bed by his housekeeper. He was 45.[2]

In March 2002, the BBC broadcast Suing the Pope, a documentary detailing the activities of Fortune and the response of the Diocese of Ferns to his activities over the years.[11]

The report of the Ferns Inquiry (published in 2005) stated that two of Fortune's alleged victims had since died by suicide.[12] While the Ferns Report noted that Fortune had been removed from some church roles owing to earlier allegations, it found that the decision to appoint him to curacies in County Wexford was "ill-advised and dangerous" and noted a "serious lack of supervision" and other failures in allowing Fortune to "open youth clubs and build reconciliation rooms for young people in the basement of his house".[13]

See also

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References

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Notes

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  1. ^ a b c d Maume 2012.
  2. ^ a b c McDonagh 1999.
  3. ^ Maume 2012, "Fortune, Sean (1953–99), Catholic priest and paedophile, was born in Gorey, Co. Wexford, on 20 December 1953".
  4. ^ O'Connor 2000.
  5. ^ Ferns Report 2005, pp. 153–154.
  6. ^ Hickey 2000.
  7. ^ Irish Independent 2005.
  8. ^ Irish Times 2011.
  9. ^ Mooney 2011.
  10. ^ Macdonald 2003.
  11. ^ Ferns Report 2005, pp. 96.
  12. ^ Ferns Report 2005, pp. 171–173.

Sources

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  • Hickey, Shane (23 September 2000). "Evil poisons the heart of a village". independent. Retrieved 3 August 2021.
  • Macdonald, Sarah (29 January 2003). "Suing the Pope - Colm's story". BBC News. Retrieved 11 March 2025.
  • Maume, Patrick (May 2012). "Fortune, Sean". Dictionary of Irish Biography. Royal Irish Academy. doi:10.3318/dib.009270.v1. Retrieved 11 March 2025.
  • McDonagh, Marese (16 March 1999). "Comiskey set to officiate at funeral of Fr Fortune". Irish Independent. Retrieved 18 July 2010.
  • Mooney, Tom (2011). All the Bishops' Men - Clerical Abuse in an Irish Diocese. Collins Press. ISBN 9781848890992.
  • Murphy, Francis D.; Buckley, Helen; Joyce, Laraine (October 2005). Ferns Report (PDF) (Report) – via lenus.ie.
  • O'Connor, Alison (2000). A Message from Heaven: The Life and Crimes of Father Sean Fortune. Brandon. p. 13. ISBN 9780863222702.
  • "Gardai failed to act when first told of abuse". Irish Independent. 30 October 2005. Retrieved 11 March 2025.
  • "Clerical child abuse, an Irish timeline". Irish Times. 13 July 2011.
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