Breaking Former bishop of Ferns Brendan Comiskey dies
The allegations resulted in an inquiry into child sexual abuse known as the Ferns Report.
Dr Comiskey resigned over claims that he did not report allegations that Fr Sean Fortune had abused a number of children while Dr Comiskey was in control of the Ferns diocese.
Fr Fortune was a serial paedophile with a manipulative personality and Dr Comiskey admitted he found him difficult to deal with.
Fortune died by suicide while on bail.
One of his victims was the advocate and former Director of Amnesty International Ireland, Colm O'Gorman, who subsequently founded the charity One in Four for victims of abuse.
Mr O'Gorman was one of the first of Fortune's many victims to report the assaults to gardaí.
Born in August 1935, Brendan Comiskey was originally from Clontibret in Co Monaghan.
He was ordained a priest of the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary in 1961.
He became Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of Dublin in 1979 and was appointed the Bishop of Ferns in April 1984.
The Ferns report found that the former bishop failed to establish sound child protection measures in the diocese.
It also found his predecessor Bishop Donal Herlihy excluded unsuitable candidates from the priesthood and there was a failure ensure that alleged abusers were kept away from children.
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