Most of the victims were present in court. They stood in silence watching as Peter Kelly was led by prison officers back to the cells in the Criminal Courts.
Many broke down afterwards, hugging friends and family members.
The former maths teacher at Willow Park school in Blackrock, a private primary school run by the Spiritan order of priests in south Dublin, was jailed for ten years for indecently assaulting eight young boys in the 1970s and 1980s.
Kieran Freeney, whose mother had died shortly before the abuse began said afterwards that he was happy with the sentence as it would give him closure in his lifetime.
He said two other predators who had abused children in Willow Park school were now deceased. And he said he was relieved for the other victims present in court as well as all victims alive and dead.
He said his message to them was that "we got one, and we managed to put him away".
Mr Freeney said Kelly should be serving life, but he knew that at his age, ten years would be horrific. He said he hoped he would use his time to reflect on the lives he had damaged.
Aidan Moore was seriously abused by another teacher at the school, Edward Baylor, who is now dead.
Judge Elma Sheahan said he and a number of other boys, who had also been abused by Baylor, had suffered "unimaginable trauma".
Speaking outside court, Mr Moore said today was a victory for all victims of sexual abuse crimes.
But he said the fact that the Spiritan order had protected abusers was one of the reasons it had taken so long to get to this point which he said was the conviction of just one paedophile for 28 charges.
However, Mr Moore said this victory was not taken lightly and required a lot of courage from victims as well as enormous work by An Garda Síochána and the Director of Public Prosecutions.
Mr Moore said he wanted to speak to all victims of sexual abuse especially those struggling. He said he wanted them to know they were not alone. "It is not your shame and it is not your guilt," he said, adding "and you do not have to carry it alone".
Mr Moore praised the "incredible courage" of brothers, David and Mark Ryan and their friend Maura Harmon, who revealed the abuse that had been happening in Willow Park and Blackrock College in their groundbreaking documentary "Blackrock Boys", broadcast on RTÉ Radio one in November 2022.
He said many men had come forward to tell their stories since. He said others remained silent, and perhaps thought nothing would happen if they spoke up. However, he said today something had been achieved, and a paedophile was "where he belongs, behind bars".
Mr Moore said even though these offences happened almost 50 years ago, paedophiles had not gone away.
And he believed it was incumbent on every adult to look out for the welfare of children and be proactive in protecting innocent young lives from predatory paedophiles. He said it remained very much a live issue.
He said he was standing in front of the courts because if it made a difference in even one person’s life, it would be worth it
Mr Moore said the end of the trial and the sentencing was a huge relief and he had not expected the sentence to be as long as it was.
He said it had been a very painful process to go through for all victims. He said he hoped other people would come forward so the extent of the abuse at the two schools would be known.
Mr Moore also criticised the length of time being taken by the Spiritan order to set up a redress scheme.
He said he had gone through an extremely painful settlement process and hoped other people would be able to avoid this.
Mr Moore said he would never get over this. He said the effect of child sexual abuse was evident every day. He said it affected his wife, children and everyone who knew him.
Spiritan Province 'deeply sorry' for harm
In a statement this afternoon, the Spiritan Province said it was "deeply sorry" for the harm caused by Peter Kelly while he was a teacher at Willow Park School.
The statement said their thoughts were with those who were abused as children by Kelly, and with their loved ones. And they said they hoped the court's verdict and the sentence passed today brought them some measure of validation and justice.
The Spiritans said they offered them the same sincere apology that they extended to all who suffered abuse in our schools.
The order said it had begun a Restorative Justice process for victims and survivors, and encouraged anyone affected to come forward.
It said support was available through the Restore Together Group, the Restorative Justice Team and its services, and the Spiritan Safeguarding Office.
Victims have strongly criticised the amount of time taken by the order to put in place a redress scheme for them.
In an earlier statement issued in October, the Spiritan Province said they acknowledged the deep pain and frustration suffered by victims and survivors and also acknowledged progress had not been as fast as anyone would wish.
It outlined steps being taken to sell properties in order to make resources available for redress payments.
Victim impact statements
Last week the court heard victim impact statements from a number of the men.
The first man to give his statement told the court he had been a normal child who enjoyed life to the full and had lots of friends. He said he had loved sports and loved playing marbles and he remembered laughing with friends and laughing with his mother. But he said all that disappeared the moment Kelly touched him for the first time.
The man said Kelly eroded his normal life into doubt and fear. He said his whole life became insufferable.
He said he knew it was wrong and knew he did not want Kelly near him, but he could not get away from him.
The man described turning in on himself, he said he was terrified and Kelly made it impossible to be normal. He learned how to exist rather than how to live.
From the moment he opened his eyes in the morning until he went to sleep at night, he said he was constantly wondering what he could do to make sure Kelly would not notice him so he would not touch him.
Although he tried to be good, silent and quiet and do his homework, he said Kelly always got him in the end. On one occasion, he described faking a serious accident so he would not have to go to school and his relief when he was taken to hospital.
The man described the damage done to him as irreparable and said his life would have been completely different if the abuse had not happened.
He gave up sports and dropped out of school early.
He said he was floored when he found out others had been abused but he always felt it could not just have been him. The man told the court he had always hated himself for letting Kelly beat him mentally but only now could he see that he never stood a chance at 11 years old.
Another man described the severe impact the abuse had had on his physical and mental health. He said his health had deteriorated and his ability to work had been affected. He too had been diagnosed with PTSD and he said his symptoms had placed a tremendous strain on his family and on his marriage.
This man told the prosecuting counsel, John Griffin, that Kelly had worked in an institution which "tolerated widespread physical and mental abuse in Willow Park and Blackrock College".
He said 37 sexual abusers had been identified in both schools and Kelly was just "one cog in a machine of systematic abuse". "We as children, had no chance," he said.
Aidan Moore told the court he had already been broken by abuse carried out against him by Edward Baylor. He said Kelly, instead of supporting him as a vulnerable person, took advantage of his vulnerability and added to his pain.
He said Kelly's abuse reinforced his shame and intensified his sense that there was no escape.
This man told the court he had lived with pain and damage ever since, and the loss of what his life should have been.
He said he was desperate to be invisible at school, his grades plummeted and his future changed course.
He left Ireland as a young man, he told the court, and now feels he needs to leave again as it is too painful to stay here.
He broke down as he told the court he felt useless and that he was "never getting out of this".
He said it had taken him years to be able to speak about it and that he was "so very, very tired".
He told Kelly he hoped he was being made to confront what he had done.
Other victims also wrote of feeling terrified of Kelly and of suffering from depression and anxiety later in life.
Judge Sheahan said she hoped today’s sentencing would bring them closure.
