Introduction.
A lot has been written about William McGrath, especially of his role in the Kincora Boys’ Home scandal. McGrath was convicted for some of the crimes he committed at Kincora in December 1981.
The mainstream media coverage has tended to focus on McGrath’s role at the home while ignoring his long track record as an abuser, which was in evidence as early as the 1940s.
Roy Garland’s path crossed with that of McGrath in 1956. He encountered McGrath at a religious mission McGrath led in Belfast. It was based at a building in Belfast known as ‘Faith House’.
Garland is a hero of the scandal, which has become known as the Kincora saga, although Kincora was only a part of it. Garland knew that McGrath was an abuser and alerted the RUC but they did nothing about him. In the process, Garland put his life at risk.
There have been a number of inquiries into the Kincora scandal. None of them have managed to get to the root of the scandal, or clarify McGrath’s relationship with the security and intelligence services.
The RUC carried out a number of inquiries in the 1980s, which, while they led to McGrath’s conviction, did not reveal his links to the intelligence services.
The Terry Inquiry also failed in this respect. It reported in 1982.
The next inquiry was led by Judge Hughes (1984). It was meant to look at the wider picture but its terms of reference were changed in secret. By the time this became clear, the inquiry was at an end.
The Hart Inquiry (also known as the Historical institutional Abuse Inquiry or HIAI) was another failure. Its 2017 report was riddled with factual errors, some of which relate to Roy Garland and are reported here for the first time.
Roy Garland is writing a book about the wider issues surrounding William McGrath. He has kindly provided this essay, which touches upon some of the points he will be developing in the book.
1. Ignoring Faith House
Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves; ensure justice for those being crushed. Yes, speak up for the poor and helpless, and see that they get justice.
Proverbs 31:8-9 (NLV)
Judge Hughes said of his Inquiry ‘The conduct of the police, or elected representatives, or clergymen, or military Intelligence” were “not under scrutiny in this Inquiry.’
The decades of abuse at Faith House was also outside the Terms of Reference (TOR) so it could not be investigated yet scores, possibly a hundred or more boys, young men and women were abused there.
The HIAI Inquiry, which reported in 2017, seemed to assume I spoke on Kincora, about which I knew nothing. I spoke about Faith House, which was founded in 1941 long before Kincora came to light. The ‘mission’, at Faith House, Christian Fellowship Centre and Irish Emancipation Crusade (CFCIEC) gave effective cover for the abuse perpetrated by McGrath. Much false and scandalous material, plus the exclusion of Faith House, ensured that I took no part in the HIAI investigation.
The mission claimed to be ‘A national movement for the evangelization of Ireland and the deepening of spiritual life!’ But I suspect the real purpose was to provide a safe haven for abuse by the mission leader, William McGrath. McGrath ran Faith House. It was based, at first, on Belfast’s Antrim Road in the 1940s; Finaghy in the 1950s; Wellington Park in the 1960s, and Greenwood Avenue in the 1970s. The word, “Centre” was dropped, which I suspect, was to avoid parents suing the property. Many victims left but few if any, explained why. McGrath felt betrayed and looked for sympathy. The abuse, disguised as counselling, continued for decades, but the psychological grooming seemed as damaging as the brutality at Kincora.
A stated aim of the mission was to reverse the decline in Protestantism, which was said to be ‘dying out in Ireland’. Supporters were urged to make ‘An all-out effort to put the gospel into the hands of our fellow-countrymen, bound by the foreign and cruel system of Romanism.’[1] McGrath, the self-styled secretary claimed to be taking the gospel to Irish Catholics to revive the faith of St Patrick. Former victims told me their abuse began in the 1940s.
While McGrath is infamous for his abuse of boys and younger teenagers, his sexual appetite was wider than that. Two women claimed he tried to have sex with each of them.
McGrath justified his abuse of the women on his self-serving interpretation of the concepts of the Rev. Dr. William Northridge, a psychologist who McGrath said, treated and mentored him at an early stage.
I first heard McGrath speak at a small church in Percy Street in 1956, after which I was invited to Faith House, Finaghy. I thought this might be a step towards Christian service after being inspired by stories told there of CT Studd, who devoted his life and inheritance to missions in India, China and Africa. Even boys from less privileged backgrounds were said to have achieved great things for God. He told of five missionaries in Ecuador, martyred by those they served. I read their story, Through Gates of Splendor and dedicated my life to Christian service and entered Bible College in England. Dad was uneasy about the mission but didn’t seem to know why, but had expected me to develop his small business. Bible College was a truly life changing experience and while there, I successfully engaged in university work after having left school as a 14-year-old.
I was welcomed into the impressive mansion of Faith House, Finaghy by a young English lady who showed me into McGrath’s study. I sat there reading the inscriptions and glancing through the books. A framed inscription on the large fireplace read, ‘Dare to do right, dare to be true, keep the great judgment seat always in view. Look at your work as you’ll look at it then, scanned by Jehovah and angels and men.’ I felt challenged but would learn of a hidden side to the mission. As Vera Baird, former Victims’ Commissioner said, ‘doing charitable works…bears no relationship to whether that same man is a sexual abuser.’[2]
The young English lady who brought me around Faith House upon my arrival later told me a shocking story. She had run children’s meetings at the mission until she learned the ‘mission’ leader (McGrath) had sexually abused the children. She said abuse also took place during visits to the Irish Republic to ‘spread the gospel’. However she was shocked when confronted at the mission by two naked men. She was an unpaid English volunteer with no easy way out but said she eventually ‘escaped’ but returned briefly to collect her things. I put her story to the mission leader who dismissed it saying she had mental problems and was not to be taken seriously. I had lived a sheltered life and could not believe such things were possible at a ‘Christian mission’. McGrath impressed me with his psychology and apparent dedication and seemed capable and wise in many respects.
[1] This I believe first published in the 1950s under the CFCIEC title, and interdenominational – founded 1941.
[2] The Guardian, 29 April 2014.
2. Psychological Tactics to Hide Abuse
Year’s later one man, who was abused at the ‘mission’ in the 1940s, as a 14-year-old, said he was told by McGrath that he was homosexual and had mental problems. He was distraught and never recovered despite psychiatric treatment. A nurse at a Day Centre insisted his problems were not caused by the abuse but I believe the cunning, deceitful grooming and abuse by McGrath led to his distress. I could almost feel his pain, which was palpable, but scores perhaps a hundred and more were abused at the mission, which was never investigated, as it was outside the Terms of Reference of the HIAI.
I talked with other men who admitted being abused as teenagers in the 1940s, but McGrath rationalized his abuse, as psychologist Rev HH Aitchison put it, but claimed he was only encouraging friendships among boys. He referred to Biblical friendships between Jesus and John the beloved disciple, David and Jonathan and others. He said he was not saying these were homosexual but friendships that have been distorted by the modern overemphasis on heterosexuality. He was actually a secret, insatiable abuser of boys and women he also ‘treated’ for personal ‘problems’.
3. McGrath and the Orange Order
There was a growing political side to McGrath in that, after opposing Orange Order membership for years, he joined the Orange Order in the mid-1960s and encouraged young people to infiltrate Orange Lodges and the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP), the then dominant Unionist political party, to stop the ‘decline’ in Protestantism.
In 1962, Sir George Clark, Orange Order Grand Master, initially accepted an invitation to talks from James Lennon of the Ancient Order of Hibernians (AOH). But McGrath dismissed such talks as anathema and was among those opposing this. He encouraged young people to infiltrate the Orange and UUP to stop them being weakened by ecumenism. His opposition became virulent on learning that Queen Elizabeth and other dignitaries planned to visit the Pope in Rome. This, he said, led to the British Throne, Parliament and Church betraying the faith but he focused on Queen Elizabeth who disembarked at the spot where King William III came ashore in 1688. Visiting the Pope was seen, as the ultimate betrayal as it re-established communion with the See of Rome, so he insisted she could no longer be Queen.
He claimed the Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association (NICRA) was part of a Communist plot to destabilize Northern Ireland and create revolution across the UK.
He also formed Ireland’s Heritage Orange Lodge whose title appeared on the banner in Irish as Oidhreacht Eireann. I was more than happy with this but he insisted on adding a verse beneath a map of Ireland, ‘Again Boyne River shall flow blood red, the heath be dipped in gore, err crownless harp in rebel hands shall fly in Ulster’s shore.’ I could not accept this and the Grand Master agreed. McGrath meekly accepted this verdict so the verse was excluded. A few years later leading Loyalists helped create possibilities for a new future, beyond Orange and Green. This would mean an evolving relationship between the Irish people based on mutual respect. Loyalists generally welcomed the banner and even engaged in dialogue with Republicans in the South.
4. ‘London and Belfast Committee’
During the 1960s McGrath invited me to join the ‘London and Belfast Committee’, composed of people, apparently linked with Intelligence. He would not explain so I declined, which left him devastated. He said because of my refusal he and I were excluded from this and other committees.
5. Hart (HIAI) Inquiry
The Hart Inquiry accused me of being homosexual and a UVF member.
I have written a biography of Gusty Spence, a founding member and leader of the UVF. I admired the courage of UVF Leaders in speaking with both wings of the IRA. However, I was never a member of the UVF. Hart’s Report has placed my life in danger on account of this egregious error.
I have never been homophobic but neither was I ever a homosexual, as the HIAI claimed, with much other misinformation.
6. Defamation
Lawyer Brian Garrett told me that inquiries such as the HIA had privilege like a court and could not be challenged at law. The Inquiry reported what they were told, true or false. But even some RUC material was inaccurate. Protestant clergy suggested I write my story, which I have done and will hopefully be prepared for publication. I intend this essay to prepare the way for the launch of the book. Two of the three abusers at Kincora admitted guilt but McGrath, the ‘mission’ secretary, at first denied guilt but then pleaded guilty after speaking with his Counsel, Desmond Boal QC, who also encouraged me to continue writing this book. The abuse at Faith House was never addressed and I was threatened for raising the issue but after decades of abuse, the full truth remains untold.
7. The RUC Officer and his Gun
It has never emerged at any of the investigations or media reports that local RUC threatened one of their own, RUC Constable DC Cullen, to keep him quiet about what he was told about McGrath.
DC Cullen interviewed a young friend of mine at Donegall Pass RUC. My friend spoke openly and courageously and insisted I stay for the interview which was conducted by DC Cullen. My friend disclosed details about years of abuse. I cannot now be sure of the date but this all happened in the 1990s. DC Cullen heard the witness’s testimony. After this, he faced determined opposition from fellow RUC officers. On one heathed occasion, RUC officers held him captive at Donegall Pass RUC station but his captors forgot to search him so he was able to produce his gun and they released him but continued to hinder his investigation.
DC Cullen later denied that the interview with my friend took place.
8. Death Threats
I also faced death threats after McGrath asked Davy Payne of the UDA to assassinate me. I knew of three plots including one by a man who admitted his intention to kill me and apologized.
I believe I owe my survival to wise advice from a Loyalist leader who told me to keep a low profile and that I might have to flee the country, the threat was so serious it would remain while the assassins lived.
I broke all contact with Faith House and groups the leader had influence in such as Tara and began studies. I entered Queen’s University in 1973 to complete a social science degree and teaching qualification.
I was greatly relieved when, finally, McGrath was exposed in January 1980 by the Irish Independent newspaper in the Republic. The full story about this man, however, remains buried. I hope this essay helps clarify the picture a little.