Allegations of child sexual abuse have been made against 27 priests in the Catholic Archdiocese of Tuam, 19 of whom were priests of the archdiocese, it was revealed yesterday.
Eight of them were priests from other dioceses serving in Tuam.
The allegations date back to 1940 and involve the payment of €327,000 in compensation under seven civil actions.
Detailing the extent of abuse allegations in his diocese, Archbishop Michael Neary said eight of the priests against whom complaints had been made had stood aside from ministry following a reasonable suspicion that child sexual abuse may have occurred.
Four priests had been the subject of criminal charges, and three had been convicted.
Dr Neary stressed no priest was currently in ministry who was the subject of an investigation involving child sexual abuse.
The bishop also explained why he had only last week asked a priest who was being investigated for allegedly raping a young woman to step down.
He said he had been satisfied there was no "public safety issue" from leaving the priest in ministry.
"However, the balancing exercise that led to this decision was altered when, on Thursday last, the confidentiality of the Garda investigation was breached in a newspaper article. It was apparent then that all serving priests of the diocese could now come under suspicion."
Bishop of Galway Dr Martin Drennan appealed to victims of child sexual abuse by priests to contact him if they needed help.
His diocese, meanwhile, confirmed that six priests in the area had been the subject of a total of 13 allegations of child sexual abuse since 1950.
Two of the six are still in the ministry, and one was convicted, according to the Catholic press office.
In a pastoral letter, read by priests in his diocese, Bishop of Cork and Ross John Buckley said: "Any person who approaches the diocese for help regarding a difficult experience, either in the distant or the recent past, has and will receive a full and sympathetic hearing."
In another pastoral letter Bishop John Fleming of Killala said: "This is a time for honest soul-searching . . . There is much work to be done by all of us to repair the harm done."
Clear and strict programmes to ensure the safety of young people must now be put in place, the Bishop of Down and Connor, Dr Patrick Walsh, said in a letter read out at all Masses