DPP appeals former priest’s ‘unduly lenient’ sentence for sexual abuse of his three sisters

An appeal by the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) over a man’s “unduly lenient” eight-year sentence for sexually abusing his three sisters in their south Dublin family home will be heard next month. Paula Fay, Catherine Wrightstone and Yvonne Crist had publicly voiced “deep disappointment” over the sentence imposed on their brother Richard Brennan in July 2025 after his conviction in the Central Criminal Court.The global eight-year sentence was imposed on the former priest for 24 offences, including rape and indecent assault. The DPP filed an appeal on grounds of undue leniency, which is due to be heard by the Court of Appeal on October 5th.Days into his trial last March, Brennan, with an address in Montana in the US, admitted to 24 offences against his three sisters. The abuse was committed in the family home in Rathfarnham when he was aged between 16 and 24. READ MOREIt included four offences of rape against Paula Fay and two of rape against Catherine Wrightstone when both women were minors. Brennan also admitted four offences of indecent assault against Paula Fay and 13 counts of indecently assaulting Catherine Wrightstone. Paula Fay was aged 13 when she woke to find her brother, then aged 16, in her bed lifting her nightdress, telling her he needed “a favour” because he would be unable to have sex when he became a priest, the trial heard.Catherine Wrightstone said he first sexually abused her on her ninth birthday and this continued until she was 14. He admitted 13 counts of indecently assaulting her on dates between June 1980 and late 1985, and two counts of rape in 1984 and 1985. He was aged between 19 and 24 at the time.He admitted one offence of indecent assault against Yvonne Crist when she was aged 20 and he was 18. She woke in bed to find Brennan naked on top of her looking for sex. He left after she grabbed a phone, saying she would call gardaí.Catherine Wrightstone (left) and Paula Fay outside the Criminal Courts of Justice after the sentencing of their brother Richard Brennan. Photograph: Collins Courts Brennan was ordained a Catholic priest in 1989 but left the priesthood in 1992 after meeting his future wife in the US. The judge said aggravating factors were the fact Brennan committed some of the offences when he was a seminarian training for the priesthood, the “fundamental betrayal” of trust as a brother with responsibilities towards his sisters, and that his offending continued when he was an adult.[ Behind the ‘perfect family’: How ‘great fear’ stopped Dublin sisters revealing abuse by brothersOpens in new window ]The mitigatory factors included his “very late” plea of guilty, an apology to his sisters during the sentencing hearing, his expression of remorse, a lack of previous convictions, the fact the offences occurred 40 years ago and that he was considered at low risk of reoffending.In his decision, Judge David Keane said the offences occurred in the family home, which should have been a place of safety and security, but was instead made one of fear. All three sisters gave victim impact statements setting out the physical, emotional and psychological impacts of the abuse and saying they found the trial retraumatising. They said they had found some solace in their singing voices, and all described themselves as survivors.Senior counsel John Byrne, for Brennan, said his client grew up in a “somewhat chaotic” and violent family home, his mother had mental health issues and his father was an alcoholic. Byrne said Brennan was naturalised into deviant sexual behaviour from an early age by his older brother Bernard, and his case could not be divorced from his brother’s earlier case.Bernard Brennan (67) was previously jailed for a total of 4½ years after pleading guilty to 11 counts of indecent assault against Paula Fay and Yvonne Crist on dates between 1972 and 1975. Paula Fay was aged seven and Yvonne Crist was 13 when he first abused them.