Gardaí are investigating allegations of abuse against members of the Irish Spiritans over a 50-year period.
The investigation is being coordinated at a national level by the Sexual Crime Management Unit, which is part of the Garda Protective Services Bureau.
The unit manages complaints and allegations against religious orders.
It also assesses allegations and determines whether they are to be investigated by the national unit or referred to a local investigation team.
The Spiritans have said more than 233 people have made allegations of abuse against identified Irish Spiritans in ministries in Ireland and abroad, 57 of which relate to Blackrock College in Dublin.
A total of 77 priests have had allegations made against them.
Gardaí have today issued an appeal to victims of abuse to contact them, or a support group, and they said their case will be dealt with sympathetically and sensitively.
Meanwhile, Blackrock College has issued an apology to victims of sexual abuse, which it described as a shameful period in the school's history that it said it deeply regretted.
In a letter to parents, principal Alan MacGinty said the school would work diligently to ensure the highest standard of care for all students and staff.
He expressed sympathy to past pupils, their extended families and friends who suffered such "harrowing and life changing experiences".
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The letter also contained a statement from Fr Martin Kelly C.S.Sp, head of the Spiritan Order in Ireland, who also apologised to victims and survivors of abuse.
He said the order would do all in its power to help all who had been injured and ensure that the schools were "safe places for the present generation of pupils".
Four alleged abusers still alive
Four of the 77 members of the Spiritans against whom allegations of abuse have been made over the years are still alive and living in Ireland.
The Spiritan Order told RTÉ Radio's Liveline that 12 of those 77 order members taught and/or lived at Blackrock College or Willow Park junior school, with three of them convicted of abuse charges.
Since Monday's broadcast of the Documentary on One programme which related details of abuse against two brothers at Blackrock College, more people have made allegations against members of the Spiritan Order.
According to the order, the numbers are "single figures as of yesterday, but expected to rise".
None of those allegations are against any members of the order outside of the 77 who already had allegations against them.
The timeframe involved is the 1960s to the 1980s "but a full check may reveal a longer timeframe", the order said.
Survivor recalls vicious and violent man
A caller to Liveline said he had been abused in 1978, when he was in fifth form at Willow Park, by lay teacher Edward Baylor.
Baylor was a former Christian Brother at the time and allegations had been made against him in the UK, before he arrived at Blackrock as a staff member.
The caller, Aidan, said Baylor was a "vicious and violent man" with "an incredible temper" who had "absolutely pummelled" a classmate.
Aidan said he was abused after Baylor brought him to a school rugby match, alone, in 1978, and returned to the teacher's house. He was "traumatised" as a result of the abuse.
"I had my first sexual experience at the age of 11 with a 62-year-old man," he said. "That's what he did to me and I know he did it to others."
Baylor was convicted of child abuse in 1988 after pleading guilty and sentenced to two years' imprisonment and died in 1992.
The programmne also heard from a caller who said he made an allegation against another religious member at Blackrock.
He was then called into a meeting with his parents, the school headmaster at the time and religious member, who denied the allegations.
"In those days, the priest's word was sacrosanct. I was 12 years of age ... To be honest, I've never got over it ... I left that office a different child," the caller said.
He said his life was made "hell" at the school, he was called a liar and his younger brothers were picked on. He himself later became a heroin addict.
Aidan, who said he suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder and will never fully recover from what happened to him, said he favours "an independent inquiry into what went on in the school". not just in relation to Edward Baylor, but all abusers who operated there.
Another caller said he witnessed physical abuse by Baylor who was "a particularly violent and sadistic man" and "a psychopath".
Additional reporting Ailbhe Conneely
