Case summary

A settlement of €350,000 was reached on behalf of our client, a man who suffered historic sexual abuse by a religious institution in Ireland while employed by them during the 1970s. The abuse occurred over a period of three years, beginning when our client was thirteen years of age. 

Coleman Legal represented our client throughout, and the case concluded in December 2025 after three years of legal proceedings. The settlement was achieved without any formal acknowledgement of liability.

Client background

Our client began employment with a religious order in Dublin in the 1970s at the age of thirteen. He was a young person seeking honest work and found himself in the authority of individuals who held significant power and social standing within the institution. 

He entered employment in good faith and in what should have been a structured and supervised environment. Instead, he was subjected to repeated abuse over three years. When he was finally able to leave, he carried the consequences of what had happened to him for decades before he was in a position to pursue a historic sexual abuse claim against the religious institution responsible.

What happened

During his employment at a South Dublin private school operated by a religious order, our client was subjected to severe and repeated sexual abuse by persons in positions of authority over him. The abuse was carried out over a period of three years during the 1970s, during which time our client was between the ages of thirteen and sixteen. 

Those responsible held positions of trust and institutional authority that prevented our client from disclosing what was happening. He eventually left his employment to escape the abuse. As Patrick Coleman, the solicitor who handled this case, described it, this was a particularly sad situation in which those in a position of power took advantage of a young person seeking an honest living. 

Our client carried the psychological impact of this abuse throughout his adult life, suffering lifelong psychological injuries that affected his well-being across decades.

How the claim was investigated

Coleman Legal engaged a consultant psychiatrist to assess the extent of our client’s psychological injury and its lifelong consequences. Historic sexual abuse claims against institutional defendants require careful investigation of the relationship between the institution and the persons responsible for the abuse, the nature of the duty of care owed to those in their employment, and the evidence available to support the claim across a considerable passage of time. 

The firm built the case on expert psychiatric evidence and documentary records establishing our client’s employment at the institution and the authority those responsible held over him. Proceedings were brought and progressed over three years, culminating in a resolution in December 2025.

Outcome

A settlement of €350,000 was reached on our client’s behalf in December 2025. The case concluded following three years of legal proceedings. 

The settlement reflects the serious and sustained nature of the abuse our client endured as a young person and the lifelong psychological harm that resulted. For our client, who was in his early sixties at the time of settlement, it represents the conclusion of a process that formally and financially acknowledged the harm done to him in his teenage years.

How Coleman Legal helped

Patrick Coleman managed this case throughout its three-year duration, coordinating the consultant psychiatrist’s assessment and building the legal framework necessary to hold the religious institution accountable for what had occurred under its authority. 

He guided our client with sensitivity through each stage of the proceedings, ensuring the client understood his options and was supported as he revisited deeply painful events from his past. The settlement of €350,000 provides our client with recognition of the harm he suffered and the consequences he has lived with across a lifetime.

Discuss your case with our team

If you have experienced historic sexual abuse in an institutional context and wish to understand your legal options, our solicitors can advise you in confidence. Contact our team at 1800-844-104 or email us at [email protected]