On learning of the death of Patrick Buckley just before 1pm last Friday (17th May, 2024), we made sure to get it verified before we decided to publicly announce the news.
Notice of his passing was put up on his blogspot at the time, and not unlike Patrick Buckley himself, that posting, and indeed his blogspot, also became extinct.
There was very little reporting of his passing in the newspapers and on television, which was unusual considering his being more the headline than any other person, down through the years.
We ourselves were contacted by many, all wondering if the news was true, and we were in a position to confirm it for them, and it is perhaps telling of Patrick Buckley more than those on the other end of the telephone, when these people breathed a sigh of relief, as if a great weight had been taken off their shoulders.
And we understand why only too clearly.
In Ireland, there is a 'custom', 'tradition' or whatever you may wish to call it yourself, that we do not speak ill of the dead, and we can say - without fear of contradiction - that is something which we have observed on this site - until now.
Since this site began back in the mists of 2006, we have always been conscious of Patrick Buckley - amongst others - and his public persona, with his private persona and life becoming more known to us in the latter years.
He was someone we were always aware of, and not necessarily always in a positive light, and this became all the more evident in March 2022, when it became all the more personal for one of our colleagues here in CW.
And from that telephone call back then, right up to his passing, Patrick Buckley was indeed more than a (self-proclaimed) thorn in the side....
He was a prolific blogger, and regrettably in doing so, failed to do the most basic of basics when publishing a story - and that is check the facts, and check again, and again...before going to print.
Patrick Buckley failed to do so, on an ongoing basis, and this was very evident with each and every posting that made it on to his blog, on an almost daily basis.
Some stories managed to carry just a grain of truth, but that truth may have had nothing to do with the story to hand, but shur why let the truth get in the way in overall terms eh.
Patrick Buckley set out on a collision course with the Roman Catholic Church, its hierarchy and its faithful, and in many of his 'crusades', he was, in essence, correct to call out the double standards and hypocrisy.
It's down to how he done it, especially via his blogspots, that caused so much hurt, pain and sucidial ideation amongst his 'targets' that was such a concern that his initial blog was taken down, and he then set about publishing another on a different platform (WordPress).
He was of course, according to himself, being persecuted by the Roman Church 'authorities' for having exposed (pardon the pun) the alleged Grinder clerical clique and their alleged behaviour in Maynooth (or Gaynooth as he referred to it).
Anyone who dared to have an alternative view to him was fair game (as far as he was concerned), and be damned the truth getting between him having a story that would get in the viewing numbers for his blogspot.
And that brings us here in CW to the following points we wish to make in relation to Patrick Buckley, all of which are factual, legally evidenced and verified, and now can go into the public domain due to the death of Patrick Buckley.
In the first instance, for a person who claimed to be so anti-Roman etc., his own hypocrisy became evident when he was 'consecrated' as a 'bishop' and immediately took on the regalia of a Roman bishop, including mitre, ring, crosier (over which there later was a row), pectoral cross, vestments and title (including a coat of arms).
He then went on to make a name for himself by using others, to get into the public psyche by 'ordaining' a female as a 'priest' for his Oratory Society, yet in the background, allowed 2 candidates who were then studying for the Oratory Society, to be ripped off by a con-artist in the UK who Patrick Buckley claimed he had himself vetted and had assured his students was trustworthy.
Yet, when the rip-off and fraud was brought to the attention of Patrick Buckley, he washed his hands quicker than Pontious Pilate of the whole matter.
In recent times, he focussed on us here in CW in a big way, and accused us of harassing him, and defaming him (without evidence of course) by our questioning him via Operation Latharna - and yet, up to the time of his death, Patrick Buckley never answered one single question we put to him on this blogspot.
He never took us up on our offers to meet with him - and others - in our solicitors offices in Dublin, and indeed allowed others to publish rather denigrating comments and posts on his blogspot so as to try and discredit us here in CW - to no avail.
He slandered, defamed and denigrated at will, and he did not do this alone - but that person shall remain unnamed for now.
But what we can now publish is the following :
Operation Easpag : this was the culmination of so many men (47 to start, now 53) getting in touch with us to advise us that the hypocrisy of Patrick Buckley in relation to the sexual prowess of clergy needed to be known.
Indeed his sexual activities had led to 53 men (at last count) from different parts of the UK and Ireland getting in touch with us, and us then directing them to the necessary legal services and people for guidance and help.
When we started to publish this story back in August 2022, even we did not realise what was coming down the tracks once we had published, and despite never having made direct reference to, or naming who it was, this did not stop Patrick Buckley from ringing our own solicitor and in effect on the telephone, outing himself as the person at the centre of it all.
And yet, we never did name him...until now.
In that time, Patrick Buckley, for many weeks and months, refused to acknowledge or accept his responsibility for infecting so many men, and it was only when we signalled to him that his evasive tactics were not going to be tolerated, that he decided to engage.
He was still playing us for fools, so we told him - engage or be named!!
Many would call this blackmail - we would not.
It called him to face up to his behaviour, and indeed his hypocrisy.
He reluctantly engaged on a more formal level, and knew that the time would inevitably come when he would have to accept responsibility and over 200 pages of hard evidence certainly caused him to reflect and accept.
It took over a year to accomplish, and the whole matter was no longer formally reported here after that last posting in September 2023...until now.
But Patrick Buckley does not like someone to get one over him (as he perceived it) and went on a revenge mission, with no little help from a female down in the Mid-West, and decided to do a hatchet job.
More the pity that he did, as he soon became swamped with 15 seperate legal letters being served upon him rather quickly thereafter, a PSNI visit on foot of that post, and a further warning letter issued, so much so that the matter was due to proceed to the Courts in Northern Ireland in June 2024.
In the background however, was an investigation in which he was 1 suspect of 2, an investigation that involved 2 police forces, and had gone to the point of involving Interpol, such was the seriousness of the matter.
Of course, we are referring to Operation Ainmhian, and we will say no more of this for the moment as we are conscious of ongoing legal activitiy in relation to this.
But we can say this, Patrick Buckley claimed to be the upholder and bearer of the truth - and we can refute that in any court of any land.
Patrick Buckley made many, many false allegations against so many people, and never corrected the record when he got it wrong - even when the truth was presented to him - suffice to say that a telephone conversation and an email (to which we have had access and sight) would have totally undermined and destroyed any credibility he claimed to have in relation to a long running saga of lies (another female party to that certainly helped with the untruths).
Indeed, Bishop Fintan Monahan of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Killaloe has some questions to answer in relation to the suppression of truth and the forging of signatures in relation to same said situation...and more of that anon.
In recent times, we had begun Operation Inis, an investigation into Patrick Buckley and his nastiness via text messages and telephone calls to those who dared to challenge him on his publishing lies about them.
Of course, Patrick Buckley could not be challenged (as he saw it) and tried again to make false accusations against others, and even got his female fag-hag in the Mid-West to make a false report to the Gardaí in Shannon, County Clare, and they duly got involved and made a disgrace of themselves in their 'handling' of the matters - issuing threats of their own - of which we have evidence.
But, Patrick Buckley was causing problems elsewhere, and we had also started Operation Truth, on foot of some further serious allegations against him - this time financial.
We were provided with evidence that Patrick Buckley was 'marrying' young Traveller couples, and charging them over 500 sterling per ceremony, and gave the impression to the couples that they were 'married' but yet when the couples went looking for their marriage certificates, they inevitably found that they had not been registered at all...and he had their money.
We were compiling a dossier for the PSNI, His Majesty Revenue & Customs and the General Registrar Office in Northern Ireland in relation to the matter, and would have, as heretofore, first asked Patrick Buckley for his response, before then sending the dossier to the above mentioned agencies of the Northern State for their attention.
Regrettably, that will not now happen.
Patrick Buckley was also earning a few more pounds by offering a 'healing ministry' for which he charged, at minimum, 1,000 pounds a session, and we know that he had no qualms or conscience about who he took the money from, no matter if they themselves were financially struggling.
So, after 72 years on this mortal coil, Patrick Buckley, what you have left behind is a trail of hurt, pain, deception, theft, fraud, anger, HIV-infected men, couples who thought they were married but were not, people who you scammed thousands from for 'healing sessions', and the list goes on.
Your blogspots disappeared - and no doubt WordPress are very glad of that.
No doubt, to some, maybe a few, you were kind, caring and compassionate, but they are but a few.
Did you get Rome to listen? That is for Rome to answer.
Did you make a difference?
We can say yes to that....
Wherever you may now be, Patrick Buckley, if there is just one good thing you have done for so many, many people, and that it may stand in your favour when you meet whomsoever your Maker to be, is that you died.
So many people against whom you were so unnecessarily nasty, against whom you bore false witness, against whom you slandered and defamed, those whom you knowingly infected with HIV, can now take comfort from your passing.
As indeed do we here in CW.
And that, Patrick Buckley, is the truth of you.
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AODHÁN DE FAOITE
Eagarthóir / Editor