Brendan Smyth: Betrayal of Trust is a two-part historical drama (based on a true story), which premiered on British television (BBC) in 2011.
The topic of this drama is the Catholic Church in Ireland and in Northern Ireland and the pedophile priest Father Brendan Smyth.
Here is some basic information about this drama:
** Director: Michael McDowell
** Writers: Michael McDowell, Tim McGarry, and Damon Quinn
** Based on the book Betrayal of Trust: The Father Brendan Smyth Affair and the Catholic Church by Chris Moore (1995)
** Run time: 2 x 60 minutes
The cast includes the following:
** Richard Dorner as Chris Moore – investigative reporter
** Ian Beattie as Father Brendan Smyth (1927-1997)
** Ian McElhinney as Abbot Kevin Smith
** Mary Connolly as Ann – mother of Megan
** Paddy Jenkins as Patrick – father of Megan
** Susan Davey as Megan – daughter of Ann and Patrick
** Stuart Graham as the detective
** Billy Clarke as Cardinal Cahal Daly (1917-2009)
Born John Gerard Smyth in Belfast, Northern Ireland, in 1927, he joined the Norbertine Roman Catholic religious order in 1945 and changed his first name to Brendan.
He was ordained as a priest of this order in 1951, and it is believed he began his criminal activity as a child molester shortly after this time.
He was allowed to continue as a priest and a criminal for more than forty years before he was finally stopped in 1994.
This drama is about the crimes Father Brendan Smyth committed against numerous children in Ireland, in Northern Ireland, and in the United States.
It is also about the almost unbelievable role the Catholic Church played in his case.
The church was aware of his criminal activities for many years, but did nothing to stop him. He was neither expelled from the church nor reported to the police. He was allowed to continue his career as a member of the Norbertine order.
The only measure taken by the church was to move him from place to place, whenever his criminal activities were beginning to cause problems with the local community in which he was operating.
In this drama, we learn how his crimes were exposed and how they came to the attention of the police.
One family finally stood up and demanded some action. At first, they contacted the church. When this did not produce any real results, they contacted the police.
We also learn how the church and the police were extremely slow to respond to the case, even though they did not deny that there was a problem.
Father Brendan Smyth was able to move freely between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland and this fact made it more difficult to catch him and to stop him.
When he was wanted by the police in Northern Ireland, he merely crossed the border and went into hiding in Ireland.
When the authorities of Northern Ireland contacted the Republic of Ireland asking for an extradition, the application was delayed by the Irish bureaucracy, which had no strong desire to assist the authorities of Northern Ireland.
The political ramifications of the Brendan Smyth case were so extensive that they eventually caused the collapse of the Irish government in November 1994. The prime minister who lost his job as a result of this case was Albert Martin Reynolds (1932-2014).
In 1994, Brendan Smyth was tried in a court of law in Northern Ireland. He pleaded guilty to eight cases of child abuse and was sentenced to four years in prison. In 1995, he was given a three-year concurrent sentence for eight additional cases.
In 1997, when he was released from prison in Northern Ireland, he was returned to the Republic of Ireland where he was tried in a local court of law.
On this occasion, he pleaded guilty to 74 offences against twenty boys and girls between 1958 and 1993.
In July 1997, he was sentenced to twelve years in prison, but he never served the full sentence. In August 1997, he died in prison as a result of a heart attack.
Chris Moore investigated this case for British television in Northern Ireland. His documentary film Suffer Little Children premiered on BBC in October 1994.
Moore also wrote a book about the case. His book Betrayal of Trust was published in 1995. This two-part historical drama, which premiered in 2011, is based on his book.
Damon Quinn, who worked on the script, made the following statement about the drama:
“We believe we have created a responsible drama that has put the families and survivors involved at the heart of the creative process.
“The end script is the result of an 18-months process. Some fictional scenes and characters have been included but for the most part it is based on actual events.”
What do reviewers say about this historical drama?
Here are some answers:
** 67 percent = IMDb
** 68 percent = Amazon Prime Video
The story is important. It deserves to be told, and in this drama, it is done very well.
I want to go all the way to the top with this product. I think it deserves a rating of five stars (100 percent).
PS. Investigative reporter Chris Moore is the author of six books. His recent book Kincora: Britain’s Shame was published in 2025.
REFERENCES
# 1. Film and video
Suffer Little Children
This documentary film premiered on BBC in 1994
# 2. Items available online
Patrick Maume
“Brendan Smyth,”
Dictionary of Irish Biography
This dictionary has been online since 2009
Kevin Sharkey
"HIA inquiry hears angry jail letter from paedophile priest Fr Brendan Smyth,"
BBC News
23 June 2015
Deborah McAleese
“Fr Brendan Smyth confession: I had hundreds of child sex victims,”
Belfast Telegraph
23 June 2015
Gerry Moriarty
“Abbot accused of lying about Fr Brendan Smyth,”
The Irish Times
23 June 2015
Sarah Mac Donald
“Irish priest: Sex abuse victims lost to suicide could have been saved,”
National Catholic Reporter
08 September 2016
Liam Collins
“Brendan Smyth’s evil deeds can never be forgotten,”
Irish Independent
23 July 2017
*****
Betrayal of Trust:
The Father Brendan Smyth Affair and
the Catholic Church
by Chris Moore
(1995)
*****
