Author tells of abuse at Terenure College
AUTHOR John Boyne has revealed he was sexually abused at Terenure College, the same school where rugby coach John McClean also abused boys for decades.
Writing in The Irish Times, the Boy In The Striped Pyjamas author said he was repeatedly abused at the hands of a lay teacher, leaving him unable to maintain meaningful relationships for the rest of his life.
He said that the events came flooding back to him during a Q&A session at a literary festival where he was speaking about his book A History Of Loneliness, which centres on a Terenure rugby coach who sexually abuses boys. ‘By the time I exited the stage, I was visibly shaking,’ Boyne said.
On Thursday, the author said he was in court as McClean, 76, was jailed for eight years, having admitted abusing 23 boys at the school.
The best-selling writer revealed that McClean had been his English teacher. ‘He was the first person to encourage me in my writing, awarding me three gold medals for my creative abilities,’ Boyne said.
He added that McClean’s abuse was an open secret at Terenure. ‘Silence. Denial. Looking away. During my years in that school, there was not a boy among us who did not know what John McClean was up to,’ he wrote.