A former student of a Christian Brothers’ school has claimed he exacted “revenge” on a tutor who abused him by digging up his grave and destroying his ruins.

The man said he had been beaten by one of the Brothers “every day” in a historic case of physical abuse at a Dublin school.

The man, who was referred to only as “Dave”, told Niall Boylan on Classic Hits 4FM that he returned to the school years later.

“When I was about 15 or 16, a few of the lads went to an orchard in (the school). In the orchard there used to be a graveyard and you could see half of the coffins,” he said.

“We dug half of them up, took the bones out, threw them everywhere, smashed their skulls, and I got pleasure out of it.

“I got satisfaction out of that because of what they did to me.”

Dave went on to describe the abuse he allegedly suffered at the hands of the Brother as “filthy”.

“He brought me up in front of the class and that big leather strap and the frock they used to wear, took my pants down in front of everybody and gave me 10 of the best and actually broke my skin.

“I went home to my father and he asked, ‘who did that?’ I told him what his name was and all that and the next day my father went into school and asked for that Christian Brother. He walked into that office and my father just beat the **** out of him.”

Dave said his father served six months in prison for the assault, but that the Brother was never charged for his alleged abuse.

“This fella never let up on me. After that I was thrown down the back of the room and was taught absolutely nothing. I can’t spell to save my life. I can barely read a book,” he said, explaining that he didn’t complete his Junior or Leaving Certificates and left school at age 13 to start work.

He now works as a truck driver and says he is illiterate.

Dave added that he is “not a religious person”: “I’m an atheist. I hate the church, and I hate priests.”

When asked whether he was concerned that his actions were illegal, he said he “didn’t care” because he was “so angry” at the time of the incident.

“I don’t care (that it’s illegal), what they did to me is a criminal act. I just took my frustration out because of what that Christian Brother did to me,” he said.

He added: “I wanted revenge. These people are supposed to help you, they’re supposed to protect you and they’re abusing you.”

Online Editors