It now seems most unlikely that the cause of death of 16-year-old Joseph Pyke at St Joseph's Industrial School, Tralee, Co Kerry, in 1958 will ever be independently verified, gardaí have indicated.
The teenager died of "bilateral pleural effusion" (pneumonia) and "septicaemia", as certified on his death certificate, issued by the Registrar of Births and Deaths at Killarney. He died on February 9th, 1958, after being transferred to the County Hospital, Tralee, from the industrial school.
Mr John Prior, of the Joseph Pyke Memorial Trust, has alleged that Joseph died when a carbuncle on the back of his neck was burst during a beating. A former resident at St Joseph's, he said he witnessed the beating and has claimed the boy's septicaemia resulted from it.
This has been robustly denied by Brother David Gibson, Provincial of the Irish Christian Brothers' Northern Province. St Joseph's was run by the Christian Brothers. "With regard to Mr John Prior's version of how Joseph Pyke died, I totally refute the suggestion that he died as a result of a beating he received in Tralee. There is no evidence whatsoever for this, and inquiries by the gardaí bear this out," he said .
Insp Martin McCarthy said that following complaints in 1999 a Garda unit was set up in Tralee to investigate St Joseph's, under Chief Supt Fred Garvey. In the case of Joseph Pyke the investigation focused "on an alleged assault that took place in the dining hall area of the institution," he said. Several former residents at the school made statements, However, gardaí faced particular difficulties in the case, he said.
The brother alleged to have beaten the teenager died during the investigation. Further, there was the probability that the teenager might not be in the grave marked as his and that, if he were, it was most likely other boys were buried there, too, Insp McCarthy said.
Identification of the remains would prove difficult as Joseph Pyke had no known living relatives from whom DNA samples might be taken. Such DNA would be "absolutely necessary" before an exhumation could take place, he said.
