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Paddy Doyle, author of The God Squad and disability activist, died at the age of 69.
Mr. Doyle, who developed dystonia, a neurological movement disorder characterized by muscle contractions, spent many years at St Michael’s Industrial School in Cappoquin, Co Waterford.
He was born at Wexford Hospital in May 1951 and his early years were happy, but his life was ruined by the death of his parents when he was four years old.
His mother died of breast cancer at the age of 43, and his father took his own life five weeks later.
In August 1955, the Wexford District Court found him without a “guardian to exercise adequate guardianship.”
Then, Doyle was sent to St Michael’s, an experience he wrote about in The God Squad, which was published in 1988.
The book was an immediate bestseller, winning the Sunday Tribune Arts Award for literature and the Dublin Lord Mayor’s Award.
It preceded by more than a decade the documentary States of Fear, which aired on RTÉ in 1999.
That Mary Raftery documentary is widely credited with initiating the process of exposing the regime of abuse and cruelty in the state’s residential institutions.
Doyle said he endured a brutal and cruel regime and suffered frequent beatings at school. “They beat you with a bamboo pole until you screamed, and then they believed that the devil was out of you.”
She told The Irish Times in 1988 that the Sister of Mercy nuns at St Michael’s tried to prevent her from learning of her father’s death.
“I knew the horror of being beaten until it was no longer possible to stand up,” he said.
When he was nine years old, he was sent to the hospital and diagnosed with “post-polio” and underwent leg and brain surgery. In his book, Mr. Doyle argued that his condition was psychosomatic and caused me the trauma of his childhood.
He became a strong advocate for people with disabilities and survivors of abuse.
He is survived by his wife Eileen, their three children, Niall, Ronan, and Shane, and their six grandchildren. Arrangements for the funeral have yet to be made.
His middle son, Niall, called The God Squad “somewhat groundbreaking” when it was first published and singled out his father as an intrepid activist.
“He was not afraid to speak his mind about anything. In your opinion, it could be quite stubborn. He was never afraid of having his voice heard or of being the voice of something he believed in, “he said.
“One of his mantras in life is that we should all be the same. He did not believe that someone with disabilities should be excluded from anything. That was a family mantra. “
He said his father, who settled in Saggart, Co Dublin, has had difficulty breathing in his later years and his situation has deteriorated in recent weeks. He died at Tallaght Hospital on Friday.
“For me, as his son, I fully appreciate all the work he did around disabilities, but for me he was my father,” he said.
“For me, to summarize it in some way, it is very difficult. From the beginning, you could say that life was a struggle. From our perspective as a family, it was never something that was stressed.
“He was able to compartmentalize parts of his life. In general, everything was very normal. We don’t even think of him as disabled. “
Co-author Dermot Bolger, who first published The God Squad, said: “Of all the books I published as editor of the Raven Arts Press, Paddy Doyle’s God’s Squad I am most proud of it because the book and, more importantly, Paddy’s insistence that he finally make his voice heard, contributed to the transformation of Ireland.
“His memoirs broke so many taboos of silence that not only did the major publishers refuse to touch them, but I actually had trouble finding a printer willing to print them for me. It is a book about injustice and mistreatment by powerful institutions within the state. Having bought a house with my late wife, I remember telling her that we would almost definitely lose her in legal costs if these institutions took a court order against the publication. Such was the effect Paddy had on her (and everyone she met) that she immediately said “publish and damn it.”
“Paddy was a courageous and unwavering spirit, combining great humanity and wicked humor with a fierce pursuit of justice not only for himself but for all victims of institutional abuse and anyone who faced daily discrimination due to a disability. He may have been bitter about his past, but every time I visited him to work on this book, in the boisterous love nest he shared with his wonderful wife and children, he came out enriched by his company, his humanity, and his laughter. I was privileged to have met him. ”
Rónán Hession, author of Leonard & Hungry Paul, said: “It’s fair to say that my reading of The God Squad while in high school was something of an awakening. Not only did it affect how I felt about the world, it changed the way I see it. It is an essential book, written with great humanity and honesty. Paddy Doyle made an important contribution to the opening of the speech within Ireland. “
Liz Nugent, the best-selling crime novelist, tweeted: “So sad to hear this. Paddy and I attend the same clinic for many years. He never stopped fighting for what he shouldn’t have asked for. Such a brave and tortured soul. Rest now, Paddy.
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