Truth of evil Bill Kenneally’s last days & ‘stubborn’ decision as survivor reveals chilling church encounter after abuse

SERIAL sex abuser Bill Kenneally was so stubborn before his death that he refused to have his leg amputated for weeks, despite it causing him huge health risks.

Former sports coach Kenneally, 75, died last week, just days after being returned to the Midlands Prison in Co Laois where he was placed under palliative care.

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It is alleged he suffered from numerous infections after refusing medical advice to have his leg removed due to suspected diabetes complications.

Sources say the leg was partially “rotting”, but Kenneally still refused medical treatment which may have saved his life.

A source said: He was told he needed his leg amputated for weeks before he went ahead with it.

He was as stubborn as they come and despite doctors telling him it was necessary, he held back for as long as he could before giving the go-ahead.

He was in and out of hospital a lot and his health deteriorated rapidly in recent weeks before his death.

He died under palliative care in a cell on his own. I think its fair to say he wont be missed.

He wasnt liked by fellow inmates and tended to keep to himself.

The convicted paedophile, formerly part of what was once a powerful political dynasty in the southeast of the country, was serving a 19-year sentence for the indecent assault of 15 boys in Waterford between the years 1979 and 1990.

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Abuse survivor Barry Murphy said he was so evil, hell wont even take him.

He told the Irish Sun: I dont know would they even take him in hell as he was such a horrible f***er.

But Ill take solace in the fact that he will rot in that ground.

And its fitting that he was alive long enough to know that the report was published damning him forever.

A Commission of Investigation into complaints against the 75-year-old found a serious dereliction of duty by senior Garda officers when they learned he had sexually abused a boy in the late 1980s.

Kenneally was not arrested until 2013, despite gardai being informed about the abuse of one of the boys by his father in 1987.

Mr Murphy said he believes that had the case been dealt with when it first came to light, many of Kenneallys victims could have been spared.

He said: I believe that the number of boys he abused is in the hundreds. Since I went public, I have been contacted by numerous people who had never came forward.

Some of these men are older than me, some of these men are younger than me. I have spoken to older people in our city who have told me that this was going on with this man (Kenneally) in the 1970s.

I know a cohort of guys of a certain age, Im 53, and these guys are probably in their late 50s now, who were all abused by him but none came forward. There are so many lives that have been destroyed by this man.

He went on:One of our fellow survivors at the age of 14 in 1985, after being abused byBillKenneally, walked into Waterford Garda Station and made a complaint and was sent away.

There were scores of people who could have been saved after that. But even after 1987, for the likes of me and my peers, we spent the next 30 years walking around and seeing this man who lived close to where I am from.

Waterford is a small town, its regarded as a city but it is a small town, and seeing this man on a regular basis and having that overriding sense of guilt that I did something wrong, that was horrendous.

They talk about mental health so much today and when I think that for 30 years I regularly saw that man.

Mr Murphy recalled one scenario 15 years ago when he sat across from his abuser in church.

He said: I have four sons and around 2011 we decided to bring them to mass on Easter Sunday.

We had an infant, a two-year-old, a four-year-old and a six-year-old and I remember sitting in our parish church and directly across from where I was sitting was that man (Kenneally).

I can remember almost bumping into him as I was walking out of the church and I had my four-year-old by the hand.

I had feelings of anger but I also felt ashamed for what had happened. That should have all been put to bed almost 30 years previous.

Mr Murphy was joined in Dublin last Wednesday by fellow survivors Jason Clancy, Colin Power, Kevin Keating and Paul Walsh to meet with Justice Minister Jim OCallaghan.

Kenneally received a 14-year sentence in 2016 for abusing ten boys from 1984 to 1987.

In May 2023, he received a further four-and-a-half-year sentence for abusing five boys between December 1979 and March 1990.

Mr Murphy said despite the passage of time, he believes its never too late to come forward and report Kenneally or any other abuser.

He added: I genuinely believe its never too late. Even from the perspective of someones own wellbeing, talk to a guard, talk to a counsellor, just talk to somebody about it, just get it out of your system.

Survivors of Kenneally are expected to meet with the Taoiseach and former Fianna Fail leader Michael Martin in the coming days.

Last week, Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald said she knows it is the view of survivors and victims that Fianna Fail as a party should apologise.

She said she hopes he will work with the victims and survivors to hear them, and to understand fully what that apology needs to contain.