One of Ireland's most notorious pedophile priests has been found dead at his home in Curracloe, County Wexford, and police are investigating.

Defrocked priest Donal Collins was picked out in a report on the Wexford diocese as one of the worst abusers of young children.

For a time he was head of St. Peter’s College, one of the top schools in the country.

In 1966, the diocese received a complaint of abuse against Collins and he was sent away to England to a London parish.

It was alleged back then he inspected and measured the penises of up to 20 boys in the dormitory of St Peter's College under the pretext of checking their development.

It was treated then as a "moral failure," and Collins was incredibly allowed to return to teaching and was later named principal.

In the following 23 years he continuously abused boys at the school .He was one of 21 priests in the diocese who were eventually highlighted as pedophiles.

In a report on the diocese and the pedophile priests it harbored, Justice Frank Murphy was scathing of the bishop at the time that allowed Collins to return to teaching after he had been sent to England.

He also stated that the then bishop then Donal Herlihy had never informed British authorities of the nature of the offenses against Collins.

In March 1998 Collins was imprisoned for four years for his activities. He was released after one year on grounds of health.