Kilcoole Man Jailed For Sexual Assaults

Kilcoole’s main street

etermined to have their attacker publicly named, two Kilcoole women have waved their right to anonymity in court.

Believing for years that they “had to keep a secret”, Yvonne Kelly and her cousin, Eithne Mhic Sheoin (Ní Chéadaigh), gradually realised that there were innocent victims of “being groomed”.

Before the court was 79-year-old Edward Keddy of Cannistown, Kilcoole, who was sentenced to 18 months in prison for assaulting Ms Kelly and 15 months for assaulting Ms Mhic Sheoin, with the final 12 months in both convictions being suspended.

Speaking about the assaults, Ms Mhic Sheoin said, “In the size of my family, mummy’s side and father’s, there is an abundance of angels, so I refuse to live in fear, as I hope others can too.

“I would like to take this opportunity to thank my family, close and distant relations, friends and work colleagues who have supported me in this through the years.”

The assault on Ms Kelly took place between January 1st 1977 and December 31st 1978 (both dates inclusive) at 1 Monteith Park, whilst the assault on Ms Mhic Sheoin took place between April 1st and August 31st in 1993 (both dates inclusive) in Cannistown.

“Having confronted and spoken to my uncle,” says Ms Mhic Sheoin, “in my early 20s, I let go of my hatred. In sharing my story with my partner at the time and those since, it helped me open to them as equals.”

Having been assured by her attacker that there “had not been other people abused by his hand”, when Ms Mhic Sheoin discovered that this was not the case, she began to feel guilt, “because I put myself above the protection of possible others that may have suffered the same fate”.

In her victim impact statement, Ms Kelly also expressed her feeling of initially needing to keep a ‘secret’. “My whole adult life has been affected by what Edward Keddy did to me as a child. I had to keep a secret that made me feel dirty.

“Over my life, I realised I was the innocent victim of being groomed.”

Living across from her attacker for all these years has been “an added anxiety trigger”, Ms Kelly saying of Edward Keddy, “He is a horrible excuse of a human and I just want him to have no effect on my day-to-day life”.

Having to now testify “in front of total strangers, having to say out loud what I have spent the last 45 years trying to forget” has caused Ms Kelly added stress.

“People like Edward Keddy should be held accountable for their actions, irrelevant of age or health.

“He was a vibrant man in his prime when he abused me.”