Former priest's sentence for abusing sisters increased to 14 years

The Court of Appeal has increased the prison sentence of former priest Richard Brennan from eight years to 14 years after finding the original term unduly lenient.

Resentencing

The original eight-year sentence was imposed by Judge David Keane at the Central Criminal Court in July 2025 on Brennan (64) for 24 offences. The Court of Appeal imposed the higher term after granting an appeal by the DPP.

Judge Isobel Kennedy, giving the three-judge appeal court’s decision, said this was offending of an “extremely grave” nature, involving prolonged abuse over years, repeated rape of Wrightstone and Fay, the exploitation of vulnerable children, a “profound breach of familial trust” and “devastating consequences” for each victim.

The court ruled the appropriate headline sentences for the rapes of Wrightstone and Fay were 16 and 13 years. Taking into account mitigating factors, it reduced those sentences to 14 and 11 years respectively, making a global sentence of 14 years.

Victims’ response

The offences were committed in the family home in Rathfarnham when Brennan was aged between 16 and 24. They included four offences of rape against Fay and two of rape against Wrightstone.

Fay described the court decision as a “landmark outcome” and “a profound moment of justice and vindication”.

Wrightstone said Crist could not attend, but shared her sisters’ positive feelings about the outcome. “I only wish our youngest sister Sinéad could have lived to see this outcome.”

Wrightstone paid tribute to other survivors, including Lavinia Kerwick, whose case had led to a “historic legislative change”, empowering the DPP to appeal sentences on grounds of “undue leniency”.

Background

Brennan was ordained a Catholic priest in 1989 but left the priesthood in 1992 after meeting his future wife in the US.

Bernard Brennan (67) was previously jailed for four and a half years after pleading guilty to 11 counts of indecent assault against Fay and Crist on dates between 1972 and 1975. Fay was aged seven and Crist was 13 when he first abused them.

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Sources

• irishtimes.com: Former priest’s sentence for sexually abusing his sisters increased to 14 years in ‘landmark outcome’ – The Irish Times
• thejournal.ie: 'Vindication': Former priest who sexually abused sisters to spend extra six years in prison

This article was drafted with AI assistance and checked against the sources above. Company claims are reported as claims. Cover image is AI-generated.