A man in his 40s has been jailed for four years in connection with the sexual assault of a number of women at the Lough Derg pilgrimage site.
Tomas Gallagher, aged 42, from Rathanlacky, Dunkineely, worked at the pilgrimage site and carried out the assaults after asking them for their help in carrying out repair works on washing machines and tumble dryers.
Details of the assaults were outlined before Letterkenny Circuit Court last week.
Gallagher had pleaded to seven charges in all, four for sexual assaults of adults, two for sexual assault on children and one charge of invitation to a child to engage in sexual activity.
Having considered reports on Gallagher as well as the statements from his victims, Judge John Aylmer jailed him for five years with the last 12 months suspended.
He said the crimes, as outlined in the case, were "egregious acts of violence in a sacred place of pilgrimage".
He told Gallagher that his crimes were "deceitful" and "premeditated" and that he placed them in the mid-range for such offences and which merited a sentence of seven years before mitigation.
In mitigation he noted an early plea, the fact that the accused had no previous convictions, that he appeared to be remorseful and ashamed of his actions.
Judge Aylmer also noted that Gallagher had undertaken 24 counselling sessions, that he was fully cooperative and that he had been ostracised in the local community.
Taking the totality factor into account and that all sentences will run concurrently, Judge Aylmer said he was reducing the overall sentence to one of five years.
He then added that with regard to all efforts to encourage rehabilitation and the fact that it needs to be encouraged, he suspended the final 12 months of that sentence meaning Gallagher will serve four years in prison.
He is also to go under the supervision of the probation services for 12 months.
He pleaded to a total of seven charges against five different women at Lough Derg.
He pleaded to six charges of sexual assault at St Patrick's Purgatory.
He also pleaded that in the same period and location, he did attempt, by inviting, inducing, counselling or inciting a child to engage in sexual activity.
The victims, who cannot be named, ranged in age from their early teens to women in their later years.
All of the offences took place in 2022 when Gallagher worked both as a maintenance man at the retreat, as well as driving a boat taking pilgrims to and from the island.
Barrister for the State, Ms Fiona Crawford, BL and investigating Garda Joanna Doherty outlined the details of the incidents.
Statements given to gardaí by the victims told how Gallagher had approached them, asking them to come into a laundry room as he needed help fixing various machines.
The statements outlined how the women were asked to reach behind them into the machines while Gallagher fixed a "pipe".
The women thought they were holding a pipe but instead they were gripping the accused man's penis.
Gallagher was interviewed by gardaí on three occasions and initially denied anything untoward had happened.
During one interview with Detective Garda Paul McHugh, Gallagher admitted asking one woman to hold a pipe on a tumble dryer as it had been leaking.
He claimed the woman had got up and left for no apparent reason and he had been left nervous and embarrassed by the incident.
However, he later admitted the offences and entered a guilty plea.
Court hears victim impact statements
Victim impact statements from the women were read out in court while two young women chose to read out their own statements.
One young woman fought back tears as she told how despite being the victim she felt ashamed and disgusted by what had happened and often thinks about if she could have stopped this from happening to other women.
Another victim said she feels vulnerable and intimidated by what had happened and that she is sorry that she did not speak up sooner but was afraid that people would laugh at her or not believe her.
Another victim told how she was a student but failed her exams because she became depressed after Gallagher's assault on her.
However, she later completed her exams and was proud of herself and was determined not to allow her attacker to ruin her life further but still feels he stole something from her.
A teenage victim said she has been forced to attend counselling because of anxiety and that she is now always on edge and simply cannot trust men.
She decided not to come to court as she feared that seeing Gallagher again would trigger her anxiety.
Another woman, who now lives abroad and gave her evidence by videolink, told how she lives in an apartment with a lift and if a man gets into the lift she cannot stop thinking "what if?"
She said she realises that she should not tar all men with the same brush but Gallagher's attack had made her an angrier, wearier and a meaner person as a result.
She added that she does feel disgusted by what had happened but sometimes feels glad that he had chosen her and that she had alerted the authorities to what was happening as she hated to think what number of victims there might have been.
Gallagher took to the witness stand and said he wanted to apologise to his victims.
He said he "truly regretted" his actions and was sorry for the hurt and pain he had caused his victims and their families.
Asked by his barrister, Mr Colm Smyth, SC, if he realised this was a huge breach of trust, Gallagher replied that he did.
He also said that he had engaged in 24 counselling sessions to better understand the impact his actions have had on others.
Mr Smyth said his client accepted full responsibility for his actions, that he had now lost his employment and had become a pariah in the local community because of the publicity surrounding the case.
He added the fact that the offences took place in a sacred place, a place of pilgrimage for Christian people going back many centuries, also had to be acknowledged.
Mr Smyth suggested to Judge Aylmer that there also has to be "light at the end of the tunnel" for Gallagher, asking him to consider his client's remorse, his blameless life up until now and his guilty plea.
In a statement following sentencing, the Prior of Lough Derg Monsignor La Flynn expressed deep sorrow over the abuse and apologised "unreservedly for the hurt they have suffered".
