Five former pupils who claimed a priest groomed and abused them at a Co Down school are to receive more than £1.2m in combined damages.
The compensation forms part of settlements reached in their High Court actions over alleged historic sexual and physical assaults perpetrated by the late Father Malachy Finnegan.
Written apologies will also be issued to them from the head of the Catholic Church in Ireland as part of the resolutions, their solicitor disclosed.
The plaintiffs, who cannot be identified, sued the Diocese of Dromore and the Board of Governors at St Colman's College in Newry over failures to protect them from the priest.
They all attended the school as young boys over a period spanning between 1972 and 1984.
During that time Fr Finnegan, who taught and worked at the college, subjected them to serious sexual, physical and emotional abuse, according to their case.
Lawyers for the five men described the alleged molestation as "depraved and sadistic".
Fr Finnegan was accused of a wider campaign of child sexual abuse but never prosecuted or questioned by police about claims made against him.
He died in 2002, but years later it emerged that the Diocese of Dromore had settled a previous case taken by one of his alleged victims.
At that stage the Board of Governors at St Colman's condemned the physical, sexual and emotional abuse inflicted by Fr Finnegan who also served as its president.
Since then a series of lawsuits have been mounted over the alleged failures to prevent him from targeting pupils.
The latest group of five claims had been scheduled for trial hearings at the High Court in Belfast.
Instead, however, further settlements were confirmed today without any admission of liability by the defendants.
One of the men spoke about how Fr Finnegan preyed on him as a vulnerable boy by grooming and abusing for his own pleasure.
Questioning why nothing was done to stop the priest’s activities, he also described suffering severe anxiety, nightmares and post-traumatic stress disorder in the intervening years.
Outside the court, solicitor Claire McKeegan of Phoenix Law, who represents all five plaintiffs, revealed that their combined total compensation "exceeded £1.2m".
She confirmed they are now to receive letters of apology from Primate of Ireland Archbishop Eamon Martin on behalf of the Diocese of Dromore.
"Our clients have endured a lifetime of pain and suffering at the hands of Malachy Finnegan and other staff members at St Colman's who exploited their positions of power and trust to inflict abuse of the utmost depravity," Ms McKeegan said.
"We commend the bravery and resilience shown by our clients in pursuing justice."
