Former solider tells tribunal he 'walked into hell' when he joined Army Apprentice School

Seán McCárthaigh

A former soldier claimed he “walked into hell” when he joined the Army Apprentice School in Devoy Barracks, Naas, Co Kildare almost 40 years ago due to the level of verbal, mental and physical abuse he suffered.

Former apprentice, Denis Kennedy, outlined to the Defence Forces Tribunal on Thursday a catalogue of alleged abuse which he suffered at the hands of his platoon commander, an officer identified only as 2LTB for legal reasons.

The tribunal is examining how the Defence Forces handled complaints of abuse between 1983 and 2024.

Kennedy, who comes from Templemore, Co Tipperary, pointed out how half of his platoon were just 16-year-olds when he joined the Defence Forces in 1989.

“We weren’t trained. We were tortured,” said Kennedy. “We weren’t men. We were kids.”

Because his brother had joined the Defence Forces five years earlier, Kennedy said he expected to get real good training in what would be “tough but fair” conditions.

“It was not the case. I walked into hell,” he observed.

Death of Oliver Mullaney

Asked about the death of another apprentice, Oliver Mullaney, by suicide in Devoy Barracks in June 1991, two days after he was subjected to verbal abuse and mockery by one or more senior officers, Kennedy said it still affected him to the present day.

“It was just devastating,” he said.

Kennedy claimed apprentices were told by a senior officer not to mention that Mullaney had died by suicide because it would impact on the ability of his family to claim insurance.

The apprentice’s death at the time was reported as accidental.

However, Kennedy said he believed that it was an effort to provide “a cover-up of the way he was treated.”

He told the tribunal that he was terrified for his own 18-year-old son because he had shown an interest in joining the Defence Forces.

He acknowledged that the death of Mullaney had changed the culture of “an antiquated system” gradually but claimed there was a need for an independent body to govern the Defence Forces.

He told the tribunal chairperson, Judge Ann Power, that Tusla had recommended the alleged abuse should be reported to gardaí which was something he would consider.

Kennedy said he was motivated to give evidence as former apprentices had waited 35 years “to have our voices heard” in the hope that it could result in changes in the military.

When counsel for 2LTB, Tom Hogan, reminded the witness that the tribunal could not make any findings about individuals, Kennedy retorted that it was “a pity.”

Kennedy said he was afraid to make complaints because he was “terrified of the repercussions.”

Verbal complaint

However, the witness said he had made a verbal complaint “as a last straw” because of how apprentices were being malnourished, including being fed stale sausages and sour yoghurts.

He recalled making one complaint to 2LTB after they were served battered cod which was “full of brown cod worms.”

“At this stage, I didn’t care what punishment there was because we were starving,” said Kennedy.

However, he claimed 2LTB and army cooks just laughed at him, and he never complained again as it was “pointless.”

He said getting to go home for a break was hugely important to get away from what he described as “a horrendous, abusive, alien environment.”

However, Kennedy said he often had his weekend passes revoked as he was leaving the barracks, including once when he was due to attend his girlfriend’s graduation.

Kennedy said he was allowed to leave after his girlfriend’s father had contacted the Defence Forces, but noted that 2LTB had ensured he was only allowed to leave so that he didn’t get back to Templemore until late that evening.

“It was pure vindictive,” he added. “It was something predetermined to hurt you.”

He recalled another time when he was paraded in combat uniform with a backpack where he was made by 2LTB to keep running to collect a ball that had been pucked with a hurley “until I could not run any more” because he had declined to identify people returning late to barracks.

A pressure cooker feeling on you all the time

Kennedy said the officer was jealous of his fitness and once deliberately put his foot on his hand when he was doing press ups as well as kicking another recruit in the ribs.

He claimed his experience in Devoy Barracks was like “a pressure cooker feeling on you all the time.”

Another former soldier, Brian Abernethy, said the toxic conditions in the Army Apprentice School were “an excuse for a narcissistic thug to do what he wanted.”

Abernethy said apprentices were treated “as if we had shot somebody.”

The safety manager who comes originally from Kilworth, Co Cork, said the atmosphere in Devoy Barracks was in “a constant state of flux.”

He acknowledged he had brought some punishments on himself but said that once anyone got in trouble that “you’re absolutely a target.”

'A penal colony'

The tribunal heard how he estimated he had spent six months of his three years in Naas being confined to barracks.

Abernethy said recruits were treated like second-class citizens and “it felt more like a penal colony than it did a training facility.”

The witness said he was an emotional wreck after discovering that 2LTB, who was just a few years older, had ordered other members of his platoon to “sort me out.”

Abernethy said he was worried he would be grabbed in the middle of the night, although he now knew that his colleagues were never going to attack him.

Another time he was only granted leave on the day of his debs to attend the function but did not have time to get home to Cork in time.

He told counsel for the tribunal, Lalita, Morgan Pillay, that he had never made a complaint because he had “a genuine fear it would come back on you and the whole platoon would be punished.”

He said the treatment of Mullaney was “an absolute disgrace” which had the effect of a “sledgehammer” on his dead colleague.

Abernethy said he had no doubt that it caused “what happened two days later.”

He said it was a source of shame that he was “just happy that it wasn’t me who was getting it.”

Later he marked: “All I wanted to do was to survive.”

As one of the oldest recruits, Abernethy said he should have spoken up about the treatment of Mullaney.

“I didn’t have the balls to do it. That’s hard to live with,” he added.

He observed that things might have been different if 2LTB’s wings had been “clipped earlier.”

Abernethy said there was a saying that evil exists when good people do nothing before adding: “That is exactly what happened.”

He attended the tribunal because he was reminded how Mullaney did not get to enjoy the things that he did as a father when he recently attended a rock concert with his teenage son.

“I will go to the grave a little bit easier knowing I took part in this process,” he added.

In reply to questions from Defence Forces counsel, Padraig Lyons, Abernethy acknowledged that he had a positive experience in his 22-year career in the army after he had left Devoy Barracks.

The tribunal resumes on Friday.