An Irish historical society has been accused of “rewriting history” by removing references to its founder from its archives after allegations of child sexual abuse were made against him.
The Church of Ireland Historical Society (COIHS) is best known for organising conferences on Anglican church history in Armagh and Dublin every year, with the seminars welcoming speakers from across the world.
But its decision to quietly rename its only academic award, previously known as the W.G. Neely Prize, has sparked accusations that the society is attempting to “rewrite” its own past.
It follows a BBC investigation last year that found the Church of Ireland minister had been moved from Belfast to a parish in the Republic of Ireland in 1976 after complaints were made to a bishop. A senior priest told the BBC that Canon Neely’s continued access to children in Tipperary, where the abuse claims were not known, was “appalling”.
The society has renamed its award the COIHS Postgraduate Prize and is also believed to have amended its online archive to delete references to Canon Neely, who died in 2009, including from pages announcing past winners of the Neely Prize.
Niall Meehan, a former head of the media and journalism faculty at Griffith College Dublin, said the society’s attempt to erase Canon Neely from its history were misguided.
“Historical societies should interpret and indeed reinterpret the past – they should not reassemble it to omit unwelcome facts, particularly as they relate to the founder of the historical society in question,” said Mr Meehan.
Neither the society nor several members of its council responded to requests for comment from Times Higher Education.
Mr Meehan, who has previously written about historic child abuse in Ireland, said that there was a risk of reinforcing a “culture of secrecy” that might discourage victims of paedophiles from speaking about their experiences.
Instead, the society should have “explained why they no longer thought Neely an appropriate person for the COIHS to promote in its one and only academic award”, stated Mr Meehan, who urged the society to “publish a condemnation of child sexual and physical abuse”.
A Church of Ireland spokesman said it did not wish to comment at this stage due to ongoing legal processes.
