Newry: Bishop's House contents sold to help pay for abuse claims

BBC News

14-02-2025

The contents of a former Catholic bishop's home in Newry have been auctioned by the Diocese of Dromore, which will use some of the proceeds to compensate clerical abuse victims. In recent years the diocese was sued by a number of people who were physically and sexually abused as children by one of its priests, the late Fr Malachy Finegan.The Bishop's House, set in grounds off Newry's Armagh Road, was earmarked in 2023 as being among the diocesan assets that could be sold to meet its liabilities.In a statement, the diocese said it will also use the sale of its contents to fund "various safeguarding matters, including redress for victims and survivors of abuse".
Finegan, who died in 2002, was headmaster of the neighbouring St Colman's College boys' school, and also served as a parish priest in Clonduff, County Down. Some of his victims received six-figure sums in compensation after initiating legal action against the Diocese of Dromore, including one man who secured £400,000.A few months after that 2023 settlement, the diocese said it had identified assets it could sell "in order to meet our existing and ongoing safeguarding responsibilities".These included the Bishop's House, its gardens and some adjacent lands close to St Colman's College. This week hundreds of items from inside the listed building, including ornate furniture, paintings and ornaments, went under the hammer.
Marble table sold for €33,600
The auction attracted interest from several hundred bidders from around the world, according to Victor Mee Auctions, the County Cavan firm which handled the sale.Among the more significant items was a marble-topped table, originally from Tandragee Castle, which was bought by a priest in a dispersal sale in the 1950s. The table had a top estimate of €8,000 (£6,700), but on Wednesday night it sold for €33,600 (£28,000)."We knew it was going to do a lot better than the estimate, but it probably went higher than we thought," auctioneer Brian Mee told BBC News NI.He could not reveal the buyer's identity but said the transaction meant the table would stay on the island of Ireland. "It's nice that it's staying, because it is a piece of Irish history," he said. At the weekend the Bishop's House was opened to the public so that potential bidders could view the building's contents.Mr Mee estimated about 700 people visited the house over the three open days, and a similar number of online bidders took part in the first auction on Wednesday.He added there was plenty of interest from customers in the USA, Canada, Australia, Italy, the UK and across Ireland. Although there were more than 1,000 lots in the Bishop's House auction catalogue, many of them were not owned by the Diocese of Dromore.About half of the lots were from other estates, including some of the quirkier items, such as antique guns and taxidermy animals.Asked if the Bishop's House has now been sold, the diocese replied: "The auction is taking place while the process for the sale of the house and lands is ongoing."
The Bishop's House is the former private residence of the holders of the title of the Bishop of Dromore. The last man to hold that post was Bishop John McAreavey, who resigned seven years ago following criticism of how he dealt with Fr Malachy Finegan. Bishop McAreavey was not replaced when he stepped down in 2018 - instead his duties have been carried out by apostolic administrators appointed by Pope Francis.Dromore's current apostolic administrator is the leader of the Catholic Church in Ireland, Archbishop Eamon Martin.He took on the role in addition to his responsibilities as archbishop of the neighbouring Archdiocese of Armagh.
'Diocesan funds are limited'
In a letter to people in the Diocese of Dromore in November 2023, Archbishop Martin announced a proposal to sell the Bishop's House and nearby lands.At the time, he said some abuse survivors had taken legal cases against the diocese for compensation and he was "conscious that remaining diocesan funds are limited". In the letter, Archbishop Martin repeated his apology "for the hurt and damage" caused to victims and survivors of clerical abuse, describing it as a "terrible wrong".He said he wanted to tell parishioners how the diocese was going to find the resources needed to meet its ongoing responsibilities "for the legacy of abuse and for keeping all children and vulnerable people safe now and in the future in all Church activities". His letter also outlined that sections of the land "would likely be very suitable for residential development" to meet housing needs in Newry.
Who was Fr Malachy Finegan?
Fr Malachy Finegan was recently described by a law firm representing some of his victims as "one of Ireland's most prolific child abusers".The priest was accused of abusing several boys at St Colman's College in Newry, where he taught from 1967 to 1976, eventually becoming its headmaster.After he left the school, he was appointed as a parish priest of Clonduff, where he was also accused of a long campaign of child sexual abuse. But during his lifetime he was never prosecuted or questioned by police about the allegations made against him.Late last year, Clonduff parish announced plans to demolish its parochial house in Hilltown, in which Finegan was accused of carrying out multiple sexual assaults.However, some of Finegan's victims objected to that announcement because they had not been properly consulted.