Chapter 7: Troubled Early Life

JJ Muggivan

My brother, Tony, and Brendan’s sister, Ann Marie, helped me to compile the following history of Brendan’s early life. My relationship with Brendan was through my brother. I met him only twice — first during his first stay at Dundrum and, later, after he had been released, at a festival in Scarriff, County Clare.

In preparing this history, I reviewed published reports of the trial testimony. I interviewed his grandmother, his sister, and Brendan himself. I also interviewed people who knew him and his family, and I reviewed records produced by school personnel and mental-health professionals.

Important information was provided to me by one local in particular, who has known the family almost from the time of Brendan’s parents’ marriage until the present.

Brendan was born in Cregg House, which is about one mile from Whitegate, about three miles from Mount-shannon, and about two miles from the border between Clare and Galway. Whitegate and Mountshannon are small villages in east Clare, located close to Lough Derg, a lake on the River Shannon. They are the last two villages in Clare before entering Galway on the road leading north from Killaloe to Portumna.

There are two roads from Mountshannon to the Galway border, one of which runs through Whitegate. The other one runs about one mile on the northwest side of the village of Whitegate. There is a third road through the mountains into Woodford in County Galway, but it is rarely used.

Cregg House is on the road running on the northwest side of the village of Whitegate.

At the time of his parents’ marriage, Brendan’s father lived in Cregg House and his mother lived in Eyrecourt, County Galway, with her mother, Mary Quinn, and her father. Whitegate and Eyrecourt are about twenty-seven miles apart.

The mother’s maiden name was Margaret Quinn and she was about twenty-three years old at the time of her marriage. Brendan’s father, Michael Pat O’Donnell, was about three years older. They were married on 31 July 1969.

Mary Quinn described her daughter as a normal, happy child. As a teenager, she liked to dance and would cycle miles to dances in the villages and towns around Eyrecourt. Mary Quinn’s description of her daughter suggests nothing unusual in her childhood, adolescence, or young adulthood.

Margaret had one brother and one sister. She got on well with them, especially the brother who was younger than her by thirteen years.

Margaret and Michael Pat’s first-born child, and Brendan’s only sister, Ann Marie, was born on 22 July 1970. Brendan’s older brother was born just over two years later in November 1972. Brendan was the third child and was born a year and four months after his older brother, on 24 March 1974. He was about eight years and five months old when the fourth child was born in the summer of 1982.

Ann Marie described Brendan as a happy infant who did not begin to show signs of difficulty until shortly before starting school. However, she described him as a ‘colicky’ baby, saying that he was an infant who cried a lot and was difficult to put to sleep.

With the exception of recalling that Brendan was a ‘colicky’ baby, Ann Marie’s first recollection of signs of problems was her memory of seeing him crying in the morning at having to go to school and wanting his mother to be with him all the time. He would not go to school unless accompanied by his mother. He began to refuse to sleep in his own bed, wanting, instead, to have his mother sleep with him.

Brendan’s father worked for the Clare County Council and continues to work there to this day. Mary Quinn and Ann Marie described Michael Pat O’Donnell as a perfectionist who had to have everything done his way. From early on, the maternal grandparents and Ann Marie blamed Michael Pat for Brendan’s emerging problems. They related Brendan’s problems to what they described as his father’s use of ‘excessive discipline’.

Ann Marie and Brendan reported that their father emphasised cleanliness to a fault. Ann Marie reported that she has habits of cleanliness today which come from her father’s demands.

One local who knew the family well claims that reports of excessive physical discipline by Michael Pat were exaggerated and that she never saw marks on Brendan and never heard of complaints of serious beatings.

This person believes that the mother gave exaggerated accounts of beatings and that she had a significant amount of control over family discipline.

Regarding reports of physical punishment or mistreatment of his son, The Irish Times gave the following report on 4 February 1996: Meanwhile, O’Donnell’s father, Michael Pat — alleged during the trial to have physically mistreated his son — denied yesterday that he had brutalized him and said he would never forgive him.

The above accounts are supported by an account given to the Clare Champion newspaper by one of Brendan’s teachers, Mr Jim Collins. Mr Collins reported that during the time he knew Brendan, he never saw signs of physical beatings of any kind.

The one local I spoke to who was most familiar with the O’Donnell family after the family had moved from Cregg Wood to the village of Whitegate told me that Michael Pat was a father who always took good physical care of his children. He made sure they always received needed medical care, had good clothes to wear, and had good food.

Brendan Muggivan confirmed much of the foregoing. He told me that when Brendan O’Donnell attended Mountshannon School, he was always well dressed and that other pupils would sometimes be envious of the lunches he brought to school, especially such food items as biscuits. This was after the mother’s death and when Ann Marie now lived at home with her father and the two older brothers.

It seems that Ann Marie and her father took good care of the two boys. However, Ann Marie believes that Michael Pat had become disillusioned with Brendan and was ready to leave his discipline to others.

Reports in some newspapers suggested that Michael Pat had a problem with drinking. Locals told me that he did not have a drinking problem. One local told me that when the children were young, he would go to the pub only on a weekend night and have only a couple, or a few, beers on any given occasion.

She said that she has never seen him drunk at any time in the twenty-five to thirty years she has known him. Several locals gave me similar accounts of moderate drinking habits.

There was agreement between all those interviewed that Michael Pat was a perfectionist about cleanliness. Ann Marie and her grandmother reported that the father would get very angry when the children got their shoes, their clothes, or themselves dirty or soiled.

They both reported that the mother was under great pressure to keep them clean and keep them dressed in clean clothes.

Mary Quinn and Ann Marie reported that the father seemed to favour the older brother over Brendan.

When Margaret visited her mother’s house she would, according to Mary Quinn, bring a change of clothes for the children, so that, when the father would visit, they would all be dressed in

clean clothes. Neatness was strictly imposed, according to Mary Quinn.

I obtained descriptions of Margaret’s illnesses from people who knew her, rather than from mental-health professionals. ‘Depression’ was the most common description used by her friends and family members.

Ann Marie does not recall her mother being significantly depressed until Brendan began showing problems related to going to school. However, the record shows that both Brendan and his mother were showing signs of serious problems before he started school, with Brendan’s problems starting at least by the age of three.

The mother’s depression was attributed to her difficult relationship with her husband. The account given by Mary Quinn and Ann Marie suggests that Margaret developed her depression either shortly before or shortly after Brendan’s birth. However, at least one friend reported that Margaret had signs of depression even before her marriage, and that she frequently complained of physical symptoms.

A local woman told me that Margaret complained of illnesses for as long as she knew her. She told me that she remembers occasions when she would call Michael Pat at work to come home and take her to the doctor and that Michael Pat would always rush home when called.

Other parents reported that Margaret was always fearful of her children getting hurt, or catching a cold. Her fears for her children’s safety and health caused her to keep them close to her at all times.

The local woman told me that Margaret was finicky about the children and that whenever they got involved in conflicts with local children, she would immediately engage in the conflict on the side of her children.

The local woman remembers that Margaret was always present while the children played outside, either standing at the door or looking out the window.

The mother’s over-protectiveness appears to have been a problem from very early on. I spoke to a number of locals who recalled Brendan’s mother not allowing visitors to drive their cars close to the home in the evening time in order not to waken the children. They reported that, at a certain set time, radios and televisions had to be turned off for the same reason.

This anxiety about disturbing the children’s rest was evident before the family moved to the village of Whitegate — when Brendan was under two years of age.

It is not known for certain how long Margaret O’Donnell was taking prescription medication, but it appears that she may have been taking medication throughout all of Brendan’s life — and possibly before he was born. People who knew her when she was younger reported that she complained of mostly physical symptoms, even from before her marriage.

Triptasol and Valium are the two medicines mentioned in the records as having been prescribed for Margaret.

When Brendan was about five-and-a half years old, Ann Marie, who was about nine at the time, went to live with her grandmother in Eyrecourt, County Galway. She continued to see her mother, her two brothers and her father during their weekend visits to her grandmother’s home in Eyrecourt.

Margaret was in and out of hospital. When she came with her two sons to visit her mother and Ann Marie, she would seem severely depressed. She was forgetful. She always looked tired. The

children would call her and she appeared not to hear them and would not answer. She spent most of her time in bed. Ann Marie said she made numerous suicide attempts.

During one visit, Mary Quinn gave Margaret some eggs to take home with her. Mary Quinn said that when she was handing her daughter the eggs, if she had put them in her outstretched hands, they would have dropped to the floor. Her daughter walked around in a daze much of the time, giving the appearance of sleepwalking. She appeared oblivious to what was happening around her.

Mary Quinn attributed her daughter’s unhappiness, her behaviour and her depression to her bad marriage.

A local described an experience she had with Margaret after the youngest child was born. Brendan was about nine years old. When Margaret came home from the hospital with the baby, the woman went to her house with a gift for the new baby. When she knocked at the door, Margaret looked out the window and told her she couldn’t come in because the baby had a cold and she didn’t want to risk exposing him to germs.

About the same time, Margaret began going to a local’s house in the evening time to watch one of her favourite television shows, Dallas. After a few weeks, the woman asked her what was wrong with her own television. Margaret told her that Brendan had destroyed it during a temper tantrum and that he had also destroyed much of her furniture.

An expert who testified at Brendan’s trial made reference to a medical record suggesting that at least one doctor had concerns that Margaret had signs of schizophrenia.

The O’Donnell family lived in Cregg House for about six years after the marriage, and moved to the village of Whitegate when Brendan was about two years old. Ann Marie left the family home to live with her grandmother in Eyrecourt, County Galway, when Brendan was about five. Her memory of Brendan refusing to go to school suggests that she left the family home some time after he started attending school.

As psychiatrist Dr Michael Ledwith saw Brendan and his parents many times from 1978 to 1985, his trial testimony is the best record of Brendan’s early life. According to that testimony, Brendan had displayed severe behavioural problems from as young as four years of age.

Dr Ledwith first met the O’Donnells on 17 February 1978. Brendan had been referred to his assessment clinic by the public health services. At the time, Michael Pat O’Donnell was thirty-four, and Margaret was thirty-one. Margaret had taken an overdose the previous year and had been seen by a psychiatrist at the local regional hospital but she had not continued to attend.

When I interviewed him years later in Dundrum, Brendan gave me a detailed description of his mother’s suicide attempt. He told me that she had taken an overdose of pills and had drunka half bottle of whisky. He confirmed that when his mother had fallen, she had hit her nose on a cabinet, causing her to bleed profusely.

Dr Ledwith recorded that Brendan had been 8lb 4oz at birth, that he had smiled at six months, and had walked at sixteen months. However, his mother went on to tell the doctor of attacks Brendan would get, when he would turn very pale. She said that this happened at times of tension when he was reprimanded for doing something wrong and was physically punished. She said that she didn’t know how else to correct him.

We do not know whether Brendan developed the symptoms of turning pale and getting ‘attacks’ before or after witnessing his mother’s suicide attempt. However, it seems that the symptoms developed after the attempt.

Dr Ledwith told Michael Pat and Margaret that physical punishment was not an appropriate response to Brendan’s behavioural problems.

Margaret O’Donnell complained to the doctor that she herself was treated like a servant by her husband and that he displayed no affection towards his children. Dr Ledwith saw that she had great difficulty in coping, and was concerned about the family as a whole. Aware that they needed his support and that of the social services, he saw the family as a whole on nine separate occasions up to 1979.

His second meeting with Brendan was on 4 August 1978, when Margaret told him that Brendan was sometimes aggressive and needed a lot of love. Six months later, on 2 February 1979, Dr Ledwith noted that Brendan was hallucinating at night. He prescribed Valium to help the child to sleep and to get over his night terrors. Dr Ledwith said at Brendan’s trial that this was the practice

in the late 1970s. However, he acknowledged that, by the time of the trial, it had ceased to be common practice.

Brendan again attended Dr Ledwith on 6 April and 27 April of the same year. Margaret told the doctor that there had been no improvement and that Brendan would not stay in school or settle at night. She was having difficulty in coping with all her children and expressed a desire to have a break for a while. Dr Ledwith found Brendan to be pleasant and cooperative with him but because the child was still bed-wetting at night, wetting his trousers during the day and demonstrating other behavioural problems, he recommended a psychiatric assessment and put him on anew drug, now usually used in the treatment of adults.

When Dr Ledwith saw Margaret O’Donnell again, on 11 May 1979, he recorded that there were major problems in the family. However, Margaret told him that her son was a little better although still moody, with bouts of whingeing. She said that she had no problems with Brendan when he was on his own with her, but that the problems related to difficulties with Michael Pat. She told the doctor that she was ‘at the end of her tether’. Dr Ledwith then saw Brendan and recorded that he was happy and playing at a level appropriate to his age.

However, the doctor was becoming increasingly concerned about the situation in the family. He proposed that a social worker visit the family home and suggested that Margaret be placed in short-term care where she might receive treatment.

On 1 June 1979, Margaret told Dr Ledwith that Brendan was improving, was sleeping well and was whingeing less. He still had a poor relationship with his sister and brother, but he had been attending school. However, he had a very poor appetite. Dr Ledwith prescribed Triptasol — a vitamin preparation to help Brendan’s appetite.

At this stage, Margaret O’Donnell was anxious that she herself be hospitalised and that the children be in care if that occurred. She told Dr Ledwith that her husband didn’t care about her emotional problems.

Brendan was referred for psychological assessment on 11 June. The report described him as a little boy of pale complexion with fair curly hair. His mother was with him for the assessment and he would not separate from her. He held his finger in his mouth and scratched his back with his right hand and would often twist about in the chair. He spoke quietly but clearly. Tests indicated that his present functioning was a little below average. It was recommended that he attend for psychiatric review and it was stated that he would benefit from school. Brendan was five years old at the time.

A month later, on 6 July 1979, Margaret told Dr Ledwith that Brendan was ‘back to square one’ and that he had many fears and worries. Brendan had told her that there were worms coming out of his ears and he was also afraid of animals and said that he saw them in his food. Moreover, he had fits of laughter for no apparent reason. Once again, Margaret expressed the opinion that her husband was at the root of the family’s problems.

A social-work report from 1979, based on an interview with Margaret O’Donnell, spoke of Michael Pat’s having a poor relationship with his children and inconsistent treatment of them. Margaret was described in this report as a nervous, anxious person who was taking tablets for her nerves and had tried to commit suicide. She had described her children as ‘nervous wrecks’ who were ‘needled’ by their father and could not sleep properly.

In August 1979, the O’Donnells arranged an emergency appointment with Dr Ledwith. Margaret was very anxious to get treatment for her own problems, and Michael Pat had agreed to her going into a psychiatric hospital. The social services were apparently trying to organise short-term care for the children. Margaret told the doctor that Brendan was a bit better but still wanted to be with her in bed at night.

Dr Ledwith did not see Brendan again.

In March 1985, when he was almost eleven years old, Brendan was accompanied by his father to see a psychiatrist in Bawnmore. Margaret O’Donnell had died in January 1984, and their youngest son was in England. Michael Pat told the psychiatrist that none of his children were getting on at school, and he hoped to transfer Brendan to Mountshannon national school. He did not report any difficulties with Brendan at home and said he was very helpful around the house.

The psychologist reported that Brendan was alert and co-operative and had said that he liked school and had forgotten his mother.

A number of psychological tests were carried out on Brendan at this time and his intelligence functioning was found to be borderline range between mild mental handicap and low average. Another test showed that he had a mental age of 7-8 and he had a word recognition range of 8.7 years. The report recommended a psychiatric appointment and a conference discussion with a social worker involved with the family.

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In the 1970s, Valium was widely prescribed for all kinds of symptoms, especially the symptoms of depression and anxiety. At the time, it was not known that this was a highly addictive drug, every bit as addictive as alcohol.

Having complained of severe emotional distress for a long period of time, Margaret O’Donnell was a very likely candidate for medication with Valium. And as her symptoms were severe, she was most likely to be administered the drug in higher and higher doses.

As Margaret O’Donnell took Valium or a similar drug as a medicine for her symptoms for such a long period of time, it is useful to note what has since been written about its effects and its similarity to alcohol. The DSM-IV-TR (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders) is the most widely used psychiatric reference in the world. It lists and identifies the symptoms of a

total of fifteen disorders associated with sedative, hypnotic and anxiolytic medication such as Valium (pp 284—5). It describes these drugs as follows:

Like alcohol, these agents are brain depressants and can produce similar substance-induced and substance-use disorders. At high doses sedatives, hypnotics and anxiolytics can be lethal, particularly when mixed with alcohol.

The DSM goes on to describe how these drugs can cause significant changes in behaviour and may be accompanied by ‘slurred speech, an unsteady gait, nystagmus, memory or attentional problems, levels of incoordination that can interefere with driving abilities and with performing usual activities to the point of causing falls or automobile accidents, and stupor or coma.’

Mary Quinn’s description of her daughter’s appearance during visits is noteworthy in this respect. She said that her daughter slept all the time, would appear not to hear her children when they called, and walked around in a daze. I believe that what she was observing was not clinical depression, but sedation from Valium. In other words, her daughter was showing signs similar to signs one would see in someone who is drunk.

Drugs such as Valium are addictive and can be lethal. The DSM-IV-TR states that ‘very significant levels of physiological dependence, marked by both tolerance and withdrawal, can develop to the [drugs]... antisocial behaviour and antisocial personality disorder are associated with sedative, hypnotic or anxiolytic dependence and abuse’.

Addiction can occur within two to four weeks, and prolonged use of Valium can cause an intensification of the symptoms causing its use. In other words, for the first few days of drinking, symptoms of anxiety and depression can lessen in intensity. However, after drinking for a longer period of time, anxiety and depression can worsen. This increase and worsening of depression and anxiety symptoms can now cause an individual to increase consumption of what caused relaxation at the beginning.

Withdrawal from use can intensify the symptoms even more. The DSM-IV-TR describes the problem of withdrawal as follows:

The withdrawal syndrome produced by substances in this class may be characterized by the development of a delirium that can be life threatening. There may be evidence of tolerance and withdrawal in the absence of a diagnosis of Substance Dependence in an individual who has abruptly discontinued benzodiazepines [Valium] that were taken for long periods of time at prescribed and therapeutic doses.

When the anxiety worsened — now because of the medication — medicine, such as Valium, was usually increased, making the anxiety worse.

Continued use of this medication at high levels can cause more than an increase or intensification in anxiety or depression symptoms, however:

The minor tranquilizers can produce paradoxical reactions — acute agitation, confusion, disorientation, anxiety, and aggression — especially in children ... reactions such as stimulation,

agitation, rage, increased muscle spasticity, sleep disturbances, hallucinations and other adverse behavioral effects may occur in rare instances and in random fashion. ... (Breggin, Toxic Psychiatry)

It should be noted that Margaret’s medical record was cited during the trial as containing a suggestion that she had psychotic symptoms (schizophrenia). The DSM-IV-TR writes of the connection between drugs such as Valium and psychotic symptoms and the dangers of withdrawal without medical care:

In severe withdrawal, visual, tactile or auditory hallucinations or illusions can occur... the longer the substance has been taken and the higher the dosages used the more likely it is that there will be severe withdrawal.

The possibility that Margaret O’Donnell became suicidal because of her medication cannot be ruled out either. According to the DSM-IV-TR, the use of these drugs can lead to many problems, including attempted and completed sucides:

Some data indicate that the disinhibiting effects of these agents can, like alcohol, actually contribute to overly aggressive behavior, with subsequent interpersonal and legal problems. Intense

or repeated sedative, hypnotic or anxiolytic intoxication may be associated with severe depression that, although temporary, can be intense enough to lead to suicide attempts and completed suicides (p. 289).

I believe that Margaret was heavily medicated and addicted to Valium. This addiction profoundly affected her life. Most importantly, it profoundly affected the life of her son, Brendan. The evidence that he was addicted in the womb is compelling, both from the history and the nature of his lifelong symptoms.

Margaret and Brendan O’Donnell were treated in the 1970s and 1980s. However, newer guidelines for the appropriate use of minor tranquillisers, such as Valium, are now in effect.