The God Squad

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After Publication

After Publication of The God Squad

Writing a book involves a lot of research. The author has to be certain that all of the materials he or she intends to include in their work is accurate and true in so far as that is possible. Once all the research work is done, particularly on legal documentation, it is relatively easy to transcribe. All of the transcribed information involved carries the signature of solicitors/lawyers and the Gardai (Irish Police force) as well as the names and stamp of the local clergyman. These people are regarded as "pillars of society". Surely they wouldn't put their names to anything they knew to be less than true - would they?

"The God Squad" was published in 1988 and immediately became a best-seller. People wrote to me offering congratulations while others resorted to that most sinister of all things - the anonymous letters. Unsigned letters as copied below accompanied by pictures of the Virgin Mary, Jesus Christ and even God!

(1) they were never signed and
(2) they said that "what I had written was wrong".

I wondered how or what could be wrong, all of the documentation relating to my Father and Mother was taken from legal documents and transcribed. If something was wrong then it had to be in the first four years of my life and involved my parents and whatever it was it must have happened in County Wexford - my county of birth. Despite the fact that letters were unsigned, I knew by the postmark that they came from Wexford. It seemed logical to me that the people who were writing these insensitive letters must have known me as a baby. If my hunch was right, they must also have known exactly who my parents were. One thing is certain, and that is, these people in a small rural community are trying to cover up something. Subsequent inquiries were to result in comments such as "You should never speak ill of the dead".

Imagine you have gone through your life and reached the age of 38. Your name is John or Mary Smith and your father and mother are Mary and John Smith! Everything is fine, until someone tells you that the man that you thought was your father was/is not your father and there is some doubt about your mother also. I was told during the course of writing "The God Squad" that my father - Paddy Doyle - had hanged himself, not just that, I also had official papers signed by witness, to support this. The truth turned out to be very different. My father did not commit suicide in June of 1955 and I can only presume that the documents relating to his death are bogus and false. The community that I had spent the first four years of my life in "brought down the shutters" and refused to "speak ill of the dead". The local priest told me that there "were a lot of good people in the parish and that they would be upset". As far as he was concerned I was just trying to cause trouble when in fact what I was genuinely trying to do was establish the truth about my parents. It now appears that I will never know the truth about who I really am? People say that I am still the same "Paddy that we all know and love", but I am not the "same Paddy" I am someone different.

The following are extracts from letters sent to me following the publication of "The God Squad".

Dear Paddy,

I suppose this letter will never get to you as I am not putting my name to it. But I want to tell you that I have known the story about your family for many years. I often heard my grand mother talk about it. She often talked about that terrible day that Paddy Doyle hanged himself.................the hanging took place in front of the cottage from a tree. The story goes that on that terrible day your father left bread and cheese so that the child wouldn't be hungry....... I feel that not many people will take up the pen and write to you. I would love to know if you will ever get this letter, maybe you will be on the Late Late (Show......the world's longest running chat show) and if you remember this letter at all you might say something about it.

And Paddy, we enjoyed you so much please come back on "The Late Late Show" again.

Signed

For obvious reasons it was not possible to reply to this letter - no name or address was given.

Another letters reads:

"You asked about information of photo's concerning Pat Doyle. Well I don't think there will be much of a chance of getting photos". ........There is a lot written in that book that's not right although I would say that Pat Doyle himself do not know about. It was me who went up to Ballycogley to get Mrs. O'Brien to phone for Father Byrne and to ring the Guards in Rosslare. I was coming home from Meadows of Ballyrane that evening when John Murphy asked me to get someone. He had just gone in the gate just as I was coming up. It was something I wont forget. The two children were in a terrible state. It seems they had gnawed away at a loaf of bread and all was left was the hard crusts. Poor Paddy was hanging from a little bit of a tree at the back of the road ditch his feet about six inches from the ground. Anyway, Fr. Byrne came down and took him down. In the meantime Martin Parle came down and he was right jarred up (Wexford dialect). Then another thing, Mammy kept the two children for that night and maybe the following night. Then they were brought into Wexford. Well from that on I don't know what went on.

In contrast to the letter above this one is signed, though the events surrounding the death of Paddy Doyle differ. The first letter makes a clear reference to "the child" while the second makes reference to "two children".